More than 200 people from more 20 civic groups and lawmakers marched through downtown Taipei yesterday in a call to free Tibet and uphold human rights.
The march was to commemorate Tibetan Uprising Day — the March 10 anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule — which sparked a sharp crackdown and led to the Dalai Lama’s exile.
Members of the Welfare Society for Tibetans in Taiwan (在台藏人福利協會), Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan, Taiwan Association for Human Rights and other groups gathered in front of Pacific Sogo’s Zhongxiao E Road department store for a rally before setting off on the march, with numerous speeches by legislators expressing solidarity with the Tibetan cause.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) called for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan.
“President Ma has said many times that cross-strait relations have never been better, so I cannot think of a better time,” Lim said, adding that the president has cited a need to repair cross-strait ties in denying previous visits.
Ma’s government has refused to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama since his previous visit in 2009.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said that Tibet should serve as a “warning” of what might happen to Taiwan, calling for the Executive Yuan’s Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission to be frozen to express solidarity with the Tibetan cause.
“The function of the commission is not clear and it looks like a deformity even when run by the Republic of China, because Mongolia does not belong to China anymore. That we still use the ‘Republic of China’ framework to lay claim to Tibet is at odds with their struggle for human rights and freedom,” Tsai Yi-yu said, adding that he would propose a refugee act to allow Tibetan exiles to be granted asylum.
DPP Legislator Kolas Yotaka — a Amis Aborigine elected on the party’s at-large legislative slate — said that Aborigines and Tibetans face similar challenges.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Tibetans “are like China’s indigenous people, so we feel for them and should support them both in spirit and politically,” Kolas said, adding that Aborigines and Tibetans desire true autonomy to protect their cultures.
“We were both originally independent nations, but have been losing our political systems, social structures, religious beliefs and languages ever since colonizing powers came,” she said.
The group sang the Tibetan national anthem, while Tibetan monks prayed for a long life for the Dalai Lama before they marched away to chants of “Free Tibet” and “Long Live the Dalai Lama.”
A large portrait of the Dalai Lama led the procession, followed by more than a dozen Tibetans waving large Tibetan flags.
The group marched to the Kelti Building, which is often used to symbolize the Chinese government in the absence of a formal representative office, as it houses the offices of the Cross-Strait Economic and Cultural Interchange Association, the Bank of China and other Chinese associations and firms.
The group held a “die-in,” sprawling on the road in front of the Kelti Building in solidarity with Tibetan monks who have self-immolated to protest Chinese rule of Tibet.
The group marched to Taipei 101, saying they wanted to share their message with Chinese tourists.
Further events to mark Tibetan Uprising Day are scheduled for Thursday night at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall’s Freedom Square and Kaohsiung’s Human Rights Learning Study.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats