Tibetans in Taiwan and supporters of Tibetan independence yesterday condemned the Chinese government’s repression of freedom of expression and religion, while calling on people of all nationalities to join a march on Sunday to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.
“This year is the 11th year that Taiwanese will march with Tibetans in the streets of Taipei to commemorate March 10,” Yiong Cong-ziin (楊長鎮), a founding member of Taiwan Friends of Tibet, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
“However, our goal is not to stage the march forever. Our goal is to put an end to the event on that day we celebrate Tibet’s independence with our Tibetan friends — and peace-loving people from around the world — in the streets of Lhasa,” Yiong said.
Photo: Hsieh Wen-hwa, Taipei Times
“If the Chinese feel deeply upset about Japanese troops massacring Chinese during World War II, they should be equally upset about Chinese troops massacring Tibetans, because regardless of nationality, one group slaughtering another should always be condemned,” Yiong added.
Yiong said that the march on Sunday was not only for Taiwanese and Tibetans, and “we sincerely invite people of all nationalities, including Chinese, to join the march for freedom and human rights.”
Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association vice president Kalsang Lhundup said that while worldwide demonstrations on March 10 are to commemorate the Tibetan uprising in 1959, which was later violently suppressed by China, it is also to show support for Tibetans in Tibet who are suffering and resisting Chinese occupation.
“Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in the 1950s, more than 1 million Tibetans have been killed and more than 6,000 Buddhist monasteries destroyed,” Kalsang said. “Since 2009, 126 Tibetans have self-immolated to protect our language, culture and religion.”
Students for a Free Tibet Taiwan chairman Fong Jyun-shan (奉君山) said that while there are about 2,000 Tibetan political prisoners in Chinese jails, all Tibetans should be considered to be political prisoners.
“This is because Tibetans living in Tibet have no freedom of speech and those living in exile have no freedom to go home,” he said. “Tibet may not become independent suddenly because of Sunday’s march, but I am sure that nothing will ever happen if we do not take the first steps.”
The rally is scheduled for 1:30pm at the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station, from where the march is to depart at 2pm.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
Taiwan and the US have begun trade negotiations over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in an interview this morning before reporting to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, has already established communication channels with the US Department of State and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is engaging in intensive consultations, he said. Points of negotiation include tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and issues related to investment, procurement and export controls, he
RSS