Hundreds of demonstrators yesterday thronged the streets of Taipei to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising and express solidarity with Tibetans in exile.
Waving Tibetan flags — also called snow lion flags and seen as symbols of Tibetan independence — the marchers accused the Chinese government of infringing upon the human rights and religious freedom of Tibetans.
The demonstrators paid tribute to the 1959 uprising, which led to the flight of the Dalai Lama and the establishment of the current Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.
Headed by a coalition of Tibetan advocacy groups and Taiwanese human rights organizations, the protesters also paid respect to more than 130 Tibetans who have self-immolated since 2009 to protest what they call the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
The procession drew a diverse crowd of different nationalities, as monks draped in maroon-and-yellow robes walked alongside Taiwanese supporters dressed in traditional Tibetan garments.
Activists in Tibet face a common threat with those in Hong Kong and Taiwan: repression of human rights by the Chinese government, Taiwan Association for Human Rights Secretary-General Chiu E-ling (邱伊翎) said.
The theme of this year’s parade, “Next Stop: Tibet,” refers to mass protests that began in Taiwan and Hong Kong last year, she said, adding that pro-democracy activists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait must stand in solidarity with Tibetans in their human rights campaign.
The theme also conveys organizers’ hope for Tibetans to be allowed to return to their homeland, as the Dala Lama and his followers have been barred from entry into China for more than five decades, organizers said.
They accused President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration of ignoring China’s treatment of Tibetans and urged the government to take a stand on the issue.
“While Taiwan and China establish ever-closer economic ties, Taiwan’s government has failed to stop the Chinese government from massacring Tibetans,” Green Party co-chair Lee Ken-cheng (李根政) said.
After walking from Taipei’s Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT station, the demonstrators lay down on the pavement together in memory of the self-immolated Tibetans when they reached Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
Dhundup Gyalpo, secretary of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama — the Tibetan government-in-exile’s de facto embassy in Taiwan — said the event’s main purpose was to honor the pain and suffering that Tibetan activists endured.
Although Beijing has begun to loosen up on restrictions that barred Tibetans from attending religious events, Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association vice president Tenzin Namda said he considers recent reforms to be mostly superficial, as key teachings of Buddhist philosophy are still banned.
Beijing has attempted to prevent Tibetans from learning their culture, which centers on Buddhist philosophy and ideas of universal compassion, he said.
‘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
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
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
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