A group of advocates calling for the protection of Tibetans’ rights and freedoms yesterday said it would hold a large demonstration in Taipei on Saturday.
The group told a news conference in front of the Legislative Yuan that the human rights situation in areas controlled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been worsening, citing conditions in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, where it said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is engaged in “genocide.”
The group called for people from those regions to join Saturday’s demonstration to “speak up for the protection of human rights and freedoms.”
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The rally would mark Tibetan Uprising Day, which is commemorated annually on March 10, Tibetan government-in-exile representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa said.
Kelsang compared Tibet’s plight to that of Ukraine, saying that former PRC leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) had ordered the invasion of Tibet after issuing a statement that the region was “an inalienable part of China,” just as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Ukraine’s invasion after claiming it to “share a historical unity” with Russia.
“The CCP says the same about Taiwan. History will repeat itself if we do not learn from its lessons. Taiwanese must learn from what Tibet’s experience has taught us,” he said.
Despite Tibet being forced into the Seventeen Point Agreement by Beijing, innumerable Tibetans died in continued aggression in the region by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and PLA-backed militias, he said, adding that Taiwan could suffer the same fate at the hands of the CCP.
“The Tibetan government has been stuck in exile for 63 years due to Chinese oppression. Taiwan is a beacon of democracy in Asia, so it must bravely stand up to CCP aggression,” he said.
“Even during this year’s winter Olympics in Beijing, CCP officials were arresting dissidents in Tibet,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said. “Meanwhile, Tibetans who communicate with others abroad have been monitored and punished, even when the content of their discussions does not touch on sensitive topics.”
The experiences of Ukraine and Tibet show that agreements signed with autocracies do not guarantee peace, DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said.
“Not only will an agreement with a dictatorship not guarantee that tanks will not roll in, it might even serve as an excuse for invasion,” she said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS