With tomorrow marking the 66th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising of 1959, a “free Tibet” march is to be held in Taipei today, and a candlelit vigil at Liberty Square tomorrow night.
The march is to begin at 1pm outside Exit 2 of Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station in Taipei, while the vigil would take place at 7pm, the event sponsors said.
Sponsors include the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which represents the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration in Taiwan, and other civil groups.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Taiwanese should support Taiwan and say “no” to Chinese autocracy, Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, the foundation’s chairman and representative of the Tibet Office in Taiwan, told a news conference in Taipei on Thursday.
Following the death of the Dalai Lama’s second-oldest brother, Gyalo Thondup, on Feb. 8, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs two days later announced that it would be open to negotiating with the Dalai Lama if he recognized that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, whose sole legal government is that of the People’s Republic China, Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa said.
In 1951, the Chinese government used military force to compel Tibet to sign the Seventeen-Point Agreement, or the “Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet,” agreeing that Tibet was a part of China, he said.
However, in the following nine years, the agreement was broken and Tibet was violently suppressed and occupied, resulting in the death of more than 1.2 million Tibetans, the eradication of Tibetan culture, the destruction of more than 6,000 temples and the self-immolation of at least 157 Tibetans in protest of Chinese rule, he said.
In an attempt to ethnically cleanse Tibet, China confines Tibetan children and adults in “cultural assimilation schools that resemble concentration camps,” he said.
Even Tibetans living in free societies are subject to transnational repression and persecution, he added.
China imposed “one country, two systems” on Hong Kong in 1997, but in fewer than 22 years it crushed the territory’s freedoms, forcing many Hong Kongers into exile and displacement across the world, he said.
As the Chinese Communist Party also says it wishes to unify China with Taiwan, Taipei needs to heed the cautionary tales of Tibet and Hong Kong, he added.
The parade was first held in Taiwan 22 years ago, growing from just seven attendees in 2003 to a large gathering, Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan secretary Tashi Tsering said.
Tashi Tsering, a displaced Tibetan and the last surviving member of his family, expressed his hope of avoiding a second exile, urging Taiwanese to stand resolute and remain strong in the face of China’s threats.
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