Dozens of Tibetans living in Taiwan — as well as their Taiwanese supporters and a Thai supporter of the Tibetan cause — yesterday staged a 12-hour hunger strike in Liberty Square in Taipei to remember the nine Tibetans who have protested Chinese occupation of their country through self-immolation since March and they called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to show more concern for human rights in Tibet.
Reciting Buddhist chants under the lead of several monks while sitting in front of placards bearing the names and pictures of those who sacrificed themselves for religious freedom in Tibet by setting themselves on fire, Tibetans and Taiwanese alike joined internationally coordinated action for “International Solidarity Day on Supporting Tibet” yesterday.
“People have chosen to sacrifice their lives to defend their country and their faith, and for us who are alive, it’s our inevitable responsibility to carry on their mission,” Dawa Tsering, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama — the de facto embassy of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Taiwan — told the crowd in the Liberty Square. “I hereby also urge Buddhists in Taiwan to lend a helping hand to your fellow Buddhists who are suffering to maintain their faith in Tibet.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The latest wave of protests broke out in Tibet, as well as among Tibetan communities around the world, following the arrests of more than 300 Tibetan monks at the Kirti Monastery in Sichuan Province, China, because they organized an event to commemorate the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
Among the protests, nine people — aged between 17 and 29 — set themselves on fire.
Besides mourning his fellow countrymen, Dawa also reminded Taiwanese about dealing with China.
He said that in the 1950s, the Tibetan government had signed a 17-point peace treaty with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to guarantee freedoms of religion, Tibetans’ rights to their own culture and language as well as genuine autonomy for Tibet, “but the PRC unilaterally broke the treaty.”
“Later on, when we [the government--in-exile] negotiated with China in recent decades, we’ve only asked for genuine autonomy as outlined in the PRC constitution, but the PRC never agreed to it,” Dawa said. “This shows that the PRC is an insincere government.”
He went on to remind Taiwan that it should take the example of Tibet as a precaution, as the world watches Taiwan’s exchanges with China wondering if Taiwan could become the next Tibet.
Taiwan Friends of Tibet -president Chow Mei-li (周美里) said that so many people had sacrificed their lives to speak their minds “because we’re not doing enough to end their suffering and improve the situation.”
She called on the government to show more concern over human rights conditions in Tibet as cross-strait exchanges are enhanced.
“President Ma called on the Chinese government to follow the ideas of freedom and democracy as outlined by Sun Yat-sen during the Double Ten celebrations last week,” Chow said. “Well, this is a chance for Ma to show he was sincere about what he said, as a Straits Exchange Foundation delegation has just departed for China for a new round of cross-strait talks in Tianjin, China.”
Former deputy secretary--general of the Presidential Office, Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), also attended yesterday’s event, expressing her admiration for those who had sacrificed their lives to try to gain freedom and human rights in Tibet.
“I know how hard it must be for their families and friends, since my husband, Deng Nan-jung [鄭南榕] also fought for the freedom of speech in Taiwan through self--immolation in 1989,” she said. “Everyone who cares about human rights should show our support and concern for the nine Tibetan martyrs, as well as for their families and friends.”
A 12-hour hunger strike began right after a brief press conference in the morning, which ended with Buddhist rituals to calm the spirits at 9pm.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS