Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) chairwoman Chow Mei-li (周美里) yesterday urged the public to voice support for the Tibetan cause by joining a parade on Sunday.
Chow said that doing so would also be a way of voicing support for Taiwan’s freedom.
The group will hold a parade in Taipei to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule on March 10, 1959. The actual parade date this year, March 14, coincides with the date of the most recent protests against Chinese rule in the Tibetan capital Lhasa two years ago, and the date China passed its “Anti-secession” Law in 2005 that threatens to use “non-peaceful means” to bring Taiwan under its control if Taiwan declares independence.
“Fighting for Tibet’s freedom today is fighting for Taiwan’s own freedom in the future,” Chow told a press conference to publicize the parade and the release of the first Chinese translation of the Dalai Lama’s autobiography My Land, My People.
“If we look at the history of negotiations between Tibet and China, we find that all the promises Chinese leaders made to Tibetans during negotiations over the past 50 years were empty ones,” Chow said. “Should we still be so naive as to believe China’s cross-strait promises?”
Yiong Cong-ziin (楊長鎮), co-founder of TFOT, agreed.
He said it was ironic that the government put so much effort into promoting cross-strait agreements last year as the Tibetans commemorated the 50th anniversary of their exile, and Mainlander Taiwanese commemorated the 60th anniversary of their escape from China following the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) defeat by the Chinese Communist Party.
“The 17-point agreement signed between Tibet and China, with commitments made by the Chinese [in the 1950s] to leave cultural, social and religious affairs in the hands of Tibetans, was the Tibetan version of ‘one country, two systems,’” Yiong said. “Thinking about the agreement, are we not afraid about the economic cooperation framework agreement [ECFA] that President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] said should be signed with China this year? No one knows what it’s about so far.”
“While many first-generation exiled Tibetans may have passed away as we commemorate the 51st anniversary of the uprising, the next generation of Tibetans will carry on the mission to make Tibet free,” Chow said. “Remember, the Jews rebuilt their country more than 1,000 years after their country was destroyed.”
The Free Tibet parade will begin at 1pm on Sunday outside Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station in downtown Taipei.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS