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Tibet freedom
activists submit petition to Ma
MAKING A STAND: The supporters said that closer
economic ties with China should not prevent Taipei from taking a strong stance
on human rights in Tibet
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
Tibetans and Taiwanese supporters
of Tibetan independence hold up flags and carry model coffins as they march
along Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Carrying model coffins and singing the
Tibetan national anthem, dozens of Tibetans and Taiwanese supporters of Tibetan
independence yesterday marched along Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei and submitted
a petition urging President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to pay more attention to the
state of human rights in Tibet.
The activists, who carried the cardboard coffins to symbolize the 28
self-immolations by Tibetans since March last year amid a renewed clampdown by
Chinese authorities, condemned the Chinese government for its continuous
repression of Tibet and reminded Ma of his previous promise to take an interest
in human rights issues in the region.
“President Ma voiced his support for Tibet’s struggle for freedom when running
for president in 2008. However, since then, he has not openly shown his support.
Taiwan’s closer economic ties with China should not prevent our government from
taking a strong stance on human rights in Tibet,” Taiwan Friends of Tibet deputy
director Yiong Cong-ziin (楊長鎮) said.
Amnesty International Taiwan board member Tashi Tsering, an Indian-born
Tibetan-Taiwanese, said Tibetans had been fighting for religious freedom and
their human rights in a peaceful way and that people were setting themselves on
fire because the situation in the region had become unbearable.
“We need to defend our right to religious freedom and ask for the return of
[Tibetan spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama,” he said.
“The fight for freedom and human rights in Tibet is not only for Tibetans ...
the international community should join us in asking for change in China,” he
said.
Police and security guards carefully monitored the group as it later marched
from the Taipei Guest House to the Presidential Office to hand over a petition
to Ma, calling on him to pay attention to human rights.
A staff member from the Presidential Office’s public relations division received
the petition and promised to relay the group’s concerns to Ma.
Ma, who had expressed sympathy for Tibet’s independence movement during the 2008
presidential campaign, rejected a proposal later that year, after he had been
elected, for the Dalai Lama to visit the country.
Yang Cheng-shin (楊正欣), a member of Taiwan Students for a Free Tibet, said the
group hoped that the president would openly voice his concerns about China’s
human rights situation and hold regular meetings with civic groups and human
rights advocates to monitor the state of human rights in Tibet.
The group also invited the public to join a rally today in commemoration of the
52nd anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising. The rally is scheduled to begin
at 2pm in front of Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station.
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