HUNDREDS of protesters from across the UK are to flock to Edinburgh this weekend to oppose the visit of the Chinese army to this year’s Tattoo.
Angry Chinese nationals and Falun Gong practitioners are to travel from more than 20 British cities to join marches against the military band of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which they say persecutes the meditation group.
Ze Xia, 48, from London, and Yu Yu Williamson, 52, from Glasgow, are to join the Free Tibet campaign’s “March Against Oppression” on Sunday as well as Falun Gong’s own march on August 6, alongside the launch of the Tattoo.
Falun Gong practitioners will stage a re-enactment of torture methods they say are used by the Chinese government, as well as a peaceful protest and meditation exhibition.
Miss Ze, whose 19-year-old cousin, Wang Nan, was killed at the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, said: “The media in China is controlled by the state. And if Edinburgh officials are seen to accept the army, then that will be used on Chinese television to show people how other countries agree with the army’s policies.”
Brigadier Mel Jameson, who produces the Tattoo, said: “I am inviting non-combatant musicians and dancers, not soldiers. The show is an example of cultural exchange with China.”
