Despite stormy weather conditions in Taipei yesterday, 49 people —Tibetans and Taiwanese alike — staged a bicycle rally in the city to commemorate Tibetan monks who set themselves alight to protest China’s rule of Tibet.
“Tibet belongs to Tibetans!” “China, get out of Tibet!” were among the slogans shouted by the 49 cyclists, who attracted the attention of passers-by and drivers as they cycled through the streets.
On each bicycle was a Tibetan flag, while each biker carried signs calling for freedom for Tibet.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“It’s the responsibility of each Tibetan to defend our freedom, especially the freedom of religion, since religion is at the root of our culture,” Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Taiwan president Tenzin Chompel told the crowd before the fleet of bicycles departed from a park across the street from Taipei 101. “When I said it’s our responsibility, I mean that we will defend our freedom even if that means scarifying our lives.”
“We gather here to remember those who sacrificed their lives for the Tibetan cause and we call on all freedom lovers to join us,” Tenzin said. “Let’s fight for freedom for Tibet! Let’s fight for the independence of Tibet!”
Tenzin’s comments referred to previous incidents in which Tibetans took their own lives in political protest. Following an uprising in Lhasa in March 2008, seven people — mostly monks — committed suicide to protest against Chinese rule.
Since 2009, five Tibetan monks have expressed their discontent with Chinese occupation of Tibet through self-immolation — four of which were suicides that took place this year.
Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) Taiwan president Fong Jyun-shan (奉君山) pointed out that when SFT Taiwan planned the event, it wanted to remember Tsewang Norbu, the Tibetan monk who self himself on fire on Aug. 15, on the 49th day after his death.
Buddhists believe one’s spirit knows whether it will be reincarnated, or enter hell or heaven, by the 49th day of one’s death.
“However, [during the preparation for the event] under the repression of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party regime, two more monks committed suicide through self-immolation. So many suicide cases mean that the 2008 uprising in Lhasa never ended and China has never ceased its repression of Tibetans,” Fong said as he cried. “We have to think about what’s pushing the Tibetans to hurt themselves as an act of protest and we have to do something about it.”
Fong also called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to uphold his campaign promises in 2008 to support Tibetans’ struggle for freedom, as well as supporting the Dalai Lama.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS