More than 1,000 people — Taiwanese, Tibetans, Chinese, Americans, Europeans and Latin Americans — took to the streets of Taipei yesterday to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.
Holding banners and signs with slogans like “self-determination for Tibet,” “stop cultural genocide in Tibet” and “Stop killing in Tibet,” the crowd departed from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station in Taipei and marched to Taipei 101.
“We’re here to remember March 10, 1959, on which more than 100,000 Tibetans took to the streets in Lhasa to protest Chinese occupation of their country and were violently suppressed,” said Chow Mei-li (周美里), chairwoman of Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT), which organized the parade. “We want the Tibetans inside and outside Tibet who are still struggling for their freedom to know that they have the support of the Taiwanese people.”
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING,TAIPEI TIMES
Chow said that yesterday’s date, March 14, also coincided with the latest uprising in Tibet and other Tibetan regions against Chinese rule that began two years ago, as well as the date on which Beijing adopted its “Anti-Ssuccession” Law threatening to invade Taiwan if it “breaks away from the motherland.”
She said the parade route was chosen because it passes through Taipei’s busiest shopping districts and it’s a way to let more Taiwanese know that, as they enjoy their Sunday afternoon shopping or doing whatever they like, there are other people out there without the freedom to do so.
“The parade ends in front of Taipei 101, which most Chinese tourists visit, and we also would like them to hear some different voices from what their government allows them to hear,” Chow said.
As the parade passed, many people stopped, watched and took pictures, while some even waved at the marchers.
Most Chinese tourists seemed quite interested, with many taking pictures or filming the parade, but most declined to comment.
However, one elderly female Chinese tourist called the demonstrators “nuts,” while another middle-aged Chinese man said the demonstrators were too young to know what really happened in Tibet.
Many marchers also voiced concern at the accelerating pace of cross-strait agreements, especially the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA).
“Tibetans believed the Chinese and believed in the 17-point agreement they signed with China in the 1950s, but the Chinese broke their promises and imposed harsh measures on freedom and religion in Tibet,” TFOT vice-chairman Yiong Cong-ziin (楊長鎮) said.
Some demonstrators brought placards that read “human rights before ECFA.”
Lobsang, a Tibetan living in Taiwan who was born in exile in Nepal, said he was touched that so many Taiwanese came out to support the Tibetan cause and that he appreciated the support.
Celine van der Cam, a 22-year-old Belgian in the parade, said she joined because she believed the Tibetans’ call to be just.
“The Chinese say they’re doing a lot to modernize Tibet. Well, if the Tibetans don’t want it, they should be left alone,” she said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai