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.”
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS