Over the past year there have been more than 90 self-immolations by Tibetans living under Chinese rule in their own country. Over the past two months these self-immolations — carried out in protest against suppression by the Chinese communists — have been becoming increasingly frequent, sometimes with as many as one a day. On Nov. 25, a 17-year-old Buddhist nun, named Sangye Dolma, set herself ablaze, leaving behind a photograph of herself with the words: “Tibet independent nation” written across her hand. Not long before this, on Nov. 7 — the eve of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 18th National Congress — a young monk, 16-year-old Samdrup, along with two others, also self-immolated outside a public security bureau station in Aba County, Sichuan Province.
He left behind a will that read: “I dedicate this most merciful blessing to my family, especially my parents. I have set myself on fire for Tibet. I pray that the Dalai Lama will live a long life, shining the light of happiness throughout these snow-covered lands.”
Tibetans are a peaceful people, and even in death, even when they are self-immolating, they do not display the slightest hint of anger, enmity or hatred. What they want is quite simple: freedom for Tibet, the return of the Dalai Lama and the release of the Panchen Lama.
Despite the simplicity of their demands, the iron rule of the CCP has forced them to resort to the drastic measure of self-immolating, of burning themselves alive, as a means to express their wishes. This is why the Chinese, who like to see themselves as an emerging superpower, find it so difficult to tolerate, and also why they are hell-bent on spreading negative propaganda about the Dalai Lama, Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhism to the rest of the world.
In Taiwan there is a lot of anger and ongoing protest against the acquisition of parts of the Next Media Group’s operations in Taiwan. The China Times Group — owned by the Want Want China Times Group — is using this diversion to quietly and insidiously increase its offensive over Tibet.
When the government refused a visa for the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan, the Chinese-language Want Daily published an editorial praising the government’s decision as “[sending] the right political message.”
Within the space of a week, the Chinese-language China Times published a couple of submissions on the Dalai Lama, riddled with historical inaccuracies and ridiculously distorted misinterpretations of his religion, in an attempt to both influence — or indoctrinate — well-intentioned Taiwanese who sympathize with Tibetans, and to create conditions within society to promulgate Chinese hegemony.
The Dalai Lama first visited Taiwan in 1997, and back then public opinion was overwhelmingly respectful and well-disposed toward him. Times change, however, and now, within certain elements of the media, there has started to appear some rather distorted attitudes toward the Dalai Lama and Tibetans in general. Given this marked disparity, there are clearly machinations going on in the background.
Because of this, Taiwanese have to understand that, should the proposed Next Media acquisition be allowed to go ahead, the independence of the media will be threatened, and Taiwan will face a situation similar to that in Hong Kong, where it is difficult to express ideas that do not toe the official line.
Taiwan’s freedom is now in danger of being extinguished, like a flame flickering in a strengthening wind. Every Taiwanese should stand up and shield it.
Chou Mei-li is chairwoman of Taiwan Friends of Tibet.
Translated by Paul Cooper
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers