More than 100 demonstrators yesterday marched in Taipei ahead of the 62nd anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, with several politicians calling on Taiwanese to show support for Tibetans.
Demonstrators carried the Tibetan flag and held signs reading: “Tibet belongs to Tibetans,” “Free Tibet” and “Stop killing in Tibet.”
Yesterday’s Tibetan Uprising Day rally was the 18th to be held in Taiwan, organizers said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Participants gathered in front of the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station in Daan District (大安) before marching toward Taipei 101 in Xinyi District (信義) at about 2:30pm.
Representatives from several political parties, including the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the New Power Party (NPP), the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, Green Party Taiwan and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), attended the event.
DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰), the vice chair of the cross-party Taiwan Parliament Group for Tibet founded in 2016, addressed the crowd before the march began.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“In the past 50 to 60 years, Tibetans have been unable to go home,” Hung said, calling it their “biggest wish.”
“This path is very, very long,” he said, adding that “we will definitely walk with our Tibetan friends.”
“Tibet’s problem is Taiwan’s problem — to help Tibet is to help Taiwan,” said DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲), who is also a member of the Taiwan Parliament Group for Tibet.
Photo: CNA
“In the face of the brutality of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], our pursuit of progress and democracy must not stop even for a while because of resistance,” Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) of the SDP said.
Noting the presence of a “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now” flag in the crowd, Miao said: “Today, Taiwanese, Tibetans and Hong Kongers stand together. What we pursue is democracy, freedom and dignity.”
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and NPP Secretary-General Christy Pai (白卿芬) also joined the parade.
The demonstrators also marked the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Seventeen-Point Agreement in 1951, calling it a “lie.”
The agreement ceded control of Tibet to China, but it is considered to have been signed under duress.
The annual rally was organized by more than 30 groups, including the Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association, the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan, the Taiwan Parliament Group for Tibet, the Tibetan Youth Congress Taiwan and Students for a Free Tibet, Taiwan.
Other organizers included the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Judicial Reform Foundation, the Taiwan Labour Front, the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy and the Taiwan Alliance for Thai Democracy.
The groups are to lead a prayer at 7pm on Wednesday at Liberty Square in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正), they said.
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