Tibetan activists will hold a Free Tibet Concert next month to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, saying they hope to show that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) stand on Tibetan issues is not representative of all Taiwanese.
Freddy Lim (林昶佐), lead vocalist of heavy metal band Chthonic, said yesterday: “We want to tell the world that we Taiwanese stand by the values of freedom and democracy and that whatever Ma says [about Tibet] doesn’t represent us all.”
Ma said earlier this year that he was in favor of autonomy for Tibet but not independence.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The July 11 concert, arranged by Guts United Taiwan and Taiwan Friends of Tibet, is the latest in a series of events to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising.
The failed uprising was followed by the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile.
Lim said he had invited the Dalai Lama to the concert when they met in Dharamsala, India, earlier this year.
“The Dalai Lama told me that he would love to come to Taiwan anytime if he could, but it depended on other factors, too, such as the Taiwanese government’s attitude,” Lim said.
Although it may not be possible for the Dalai Lama to attend the concert given that Ma said last year and earlier this year that the timing was “not appropriate” for a visit, the Dalai Lama gave his blessing to the concert, Lim said.
Lim and about a dozen other volunteers yesterday handed out flyers for the concert at Vieshow Cinema Square in Taipei.
On an overpass connecting two buildings in the square behind Lim hung a Tibetan flag and a large banner bearing the words “Free Tibet” in English and a picture of Lim and his wife, Chthonic band leader Doris Yeh (葉湘怡).
Yeh said they had planned to have a banner with “Free Tibet” printed big in Chinese, “but the owner of the building was afraid that it was too sensitive and the Taipei City Government could find excuses to not approve it or bully [the owner] because of the ad.”
The concert will feature 10 Taiwanese bands and artists including Chthonic, Fire Extinguisher, LTK Commune, Dog G, Panay, Chang Jui-chuan (張睿詮) and Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) as well as a wide variety of music from folk to rock and hip-hop, Lim said.
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