The Taiwan Friends of Tibet yesterday said it was dismayed by an exhibition of Tibetan religious and artifacts at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, calling it an exhibition of “stolen Tibetan art” and a tool for China’s political propaganda.
“The ‘Treasures from the Roof of the World’ exhibition that opened on July 1 is actually an exhibition of ‘Tibet’s stolen treasures,’” the organization said in a press statement.
“The exhibition, organized with the help of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region Administration of Cultural Heritage, not only tries to create an image that China is the legitimate ruler of Tibet, but also attempts to cover up the fact that China rules over Tibet with an iron fist,” the statement said.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Many of the religious items on display in Taipei, the statement said, had been collected from the more than 6,000 Buddhist monasteries that were destroyed after the People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet in 1959.
The majority of those monasteries were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976.
Former Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation deputy secretary-general Own Su-jei (翁仕杰) reminded visitors to “be aware of the underhanded political intentions behind the exhibition, which has all the appearance of a purely artistic event.”
Items on exhibit include centuries-old Buddhist sculptures, traditional Tibetan silk paintings known as thangka and other religious items.
Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Taiwan chairman Tashi Tsering said that as a Tibetan, the exhibition made him furious.
“The religious art crafts on display are sacred items for Tibetans,” he said. “These items are all in the hands of Chinese and they are sending them to exhibitions in whichever country they want without asking Tibetans, as if these were their own national treasures.”
Li Jieh-mei (李介媚), another member of the organization, said: “How would Taiwanese feel if China organized a tour of Taiwan’s Atayal Aboriginal dance around the world, only to tell people that it’s a traditional Chinese folk dance?”
“Visitors may be under the impression that China is taking good care of Tibetan religious crafts, but in fact, the Chinese government is repressing Tibetans’ freedom of religion,” Li said.
In related news, the exhibition organizer had asked Dawa Tsering, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama — the de facto representative of the Tibetan government-in-exile — to offer recommendations for the exhibition, but he turned the request down because Dawa said the wording in the official exhibition guide presented a Beijing-centric view of Tibetan history.
The Dalai Lama, who was forced into exile in India in 1959, will be celebrating his 75th birthday tomorrow.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS