An annual march commemorating the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the themes of which would be religious reincarnation, autonomy and resistance to transnational repression, is to take place in Taipei on Saturday, organizers said yesterday.
“Autonomy over reincarnation is not merely a religious matter, but lies at the core of Tibetans’ freedom of belief and national dignity,” Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, said at a news conference outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Chinese authorities are trying to control the recognition of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, not out of respect for Tibetan Buddhism, nor for the Dalai Lama himself, “but because they are unable to truly control the faith and spiritual strength of the Tibetan people,” he said.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
The Dalai Lama’s followers consider him to be the spiritual leader of Tibetans and the most prominent figure in Tibetan Buddhism, which states that high-ranking lamas are reborn after death and that their successors are traditionally identified through religious procedures, Bawa said.
The reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama — now 90 and exiled from Tibet since 1959 — must be decided independently by the Gaden Phodrang Trust designated by the Dalai Lama himself, he said, adding that “any political interference lacks legitimacy.”
Transnational repression by Chinese authorities is spreading across the world and has penetrated Taiwanese society through “united front” work, intimidation and manipulation of public opinion, Bawa said.
“We commemorate March 10 each year not to reopen the wounds of history, but to remind the world that the expansion of authoritarianism will not stop on its own,” he said, adding that he hoped Taiwanese society would recognize the persistence of Tibetans’ 67-year struggle and see the warning signs in it.
On March 10, 1959, an estimated 10,000 Tibetans gathered in Lhasa to protest Beijing’s tightening control. The uprising was brutally suppressed, which led to the Dalai Lama’s exile to India and about 150,000 Tibetans fled into exile, the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan said.
Since 2004, Tibetans in Taiwan and local non-governmental organizations have held an annual march in Taipei in early March to commemorate Tibetan Uprising Day. This year’s march is set to begin at Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station at 1pm on Saturday, pass by the Taipei branch of the Bank of China and end at Taipei 101.
A candlelight vigil would also be held at Liberty Square at 7pm on Tuesday next week.
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS