Wearing panda costumes and panda hats, Tibetan activists handed out flyers yesterday outside the Taipei Zoo with cartoons directed at children explaining the connection between the giant pandas and Tibet.
“Do you know where Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓) come from? They come from Tibet,” Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) vice chairman Yang Chang-chen (楊長鎮) told a group of children and their parents as they waited in line to take pictures with a Tibetan activist dressed in a panda costume outside the zoo.
The giant pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan were gifts from China and arrived in December.
Activists handed out flyers to people waiting in line to get a photo and to passersby. The cartoon explained the Tibetan background of Sichuan Province.
“You all know that pandas come from Wolong in Sichuan, but do you know that Wolong is also home to Tibetans?” the flyer said.
It said the name “Wolong” (臥龍) came from the word wo-dhom in the local dialect of the Tibetan language, meaning “the place where pandas live.” Dhom is the Tibetan word for “panda” and wo the word for “residence.”
“Many people think that pandas are from China, but pandas actually lived side-by-side with Tibetans throughout history,” Yang said. “We want people to know that and perhaps they will realize the threat China can pose to its neighbors.”
The flyer also said events would be held across the globe to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
Most people reacted positively to the activists and many seemed surprised by the information on the flyer.
Freddy Lim (林昶佐), the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Chthonic, and the band’s bassist, Doris Yeh (葉湘怡), were among the dozens of volunteers distributing flyers. Some of the band’s fans also joined in the effort.
One of the volunteers was an off-duty police officer who helped hand out stacks of flyers “because my son is a big fan of Chthonic,” he said.
But not everyone was interested in hearing what the activists had to say about Wolong.
When Yeh tried to give an elementary school student a flyer at the zoo’s entrance and asked: “Do you want to know where Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan come from?” the child shouted in response: “I don’t like Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan and I’m not here to see them!”
Gary Chiang (江季剛), spokesman of Guts United Taiwan, a group that co-organized the effort, said it was a success.
“We handed out about 2,500 flyers the whole morning and I’d say it was quite a big success,” he said after the activists wrapped up their activity shortly after noon. “We plan to do this regularly until March 14, when this year’s free Tibet parade is held in Taipei.”
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS