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Minister under fire
for refusing to join parade for Tibet
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission Minister Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) came under
fire yesterday for turning down an invitation from lawmakers to take part in a
parade tomorrow to mark the 53rd anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising
against Chinese rule.
“There will be a parade to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the Tibetans’
1959 uprising, which starts from the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station at 2pm on
Saturday. Will you join me in the parade to show your support for Tibetans’
struggle for freedom?” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang
(段宜康) asked Luo during a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the
legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
Luo said she fully understood the situation in Tibet and sympathized with the
Tibetans in their struggle, but declined to join the parade.
“I will not take part in it. I am a government official, and I have to take
everything into consideration. I will not take part in such a politically
oriented event,” she said, adding that despite her decision, she would not
intervene if other commission staff wanted to join the march.
Her response drew criticism not only from Tuan, but also from other DPP and
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers.
“Apparently the commission only cares about interacting with Tibetan or
Mongolian individuals or organizations with approval from the Chinese
government. You don’t care about human rights violations suffered by Tibetans,”
Tuan said. “You should resign right away because you’re not qualified.”
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said he was very disappointed with the
commission.
“It should do more than just say ‘we regret what happened in Tibet,’ or host
conferences that have no actual effect,” Chen said. “You should engage in
concrete actions to help Tibetans, give support to human rights groups. Look at
what the commission did under the DPP government.”
Luo rejected the criticism, saying the commission did care about human rights
conditions in Tibet.
The commission does not issue statements about the current situation in Tibet or
organize events to commemorate the 1959 uprising just because a lot of Western
governments are doing so, “but it’s actually useless,” she said.
“We have many exchanges with Chinese officials in charge of ethnic affairs, and
we always try to share our experience in handling issues related to ethnic
minority groups, so that they might learn from us,” Luo said. “I think this is a
more effective way to help solve the Tibet issue.”
When asked for her views on recent cases of self-immolation by Tibetans — the
number of cases has reached nearly 30 since March last year — in protest against
Chinese occupation, Luo said she would call on Tibetan spiritual leader the
Dalai Lama to ask Tibetans to refrain from self-immolating.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) and TSU Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) both
condemned Luo for not wanting to take part in tomorrow’s parade and for not
making an official statement condemning human rights violations committed by the
Chinese government in Tibet.
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