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Tibetan freedom activists protest
against CCP rule
STEPPING DOWN:One activist pointed to the retirement of
the Dalai Lama as a slap in the face to Beijing, asking when the CCP government
will retire
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
People participating in a demonstration in Taipei to mark the 52nd anniversary
of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against the Chinese occupation stage a skit during
the demonstration yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Nearly 200 Tibetans and Taiwanese yesterday took to the streets in Taipei to
voice their support for the independence and freedom of Tibet, while remembering
those Tibetans who sacrificed their lives in an uprising against Chinese
occupation of their country in 1959.
¡§Tibetans want to go home! The Dalai Lama wants to go home!¡¨ the crowd shouted
as they marched. ¡§Tibet belongs to Tibetans! Chinese Communist Party [CCP] get
out of Tibet!¡¨
Before the parade began, Tibetans performed a skit to show China¡¦s repression of
Tibetans.
As the crowd rallied near Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station, three Tibetans dressed
in traditional outfits ran out of the crowd, shouting ¡§Free Tibet¡¨ and
¡§Independence for Tibet.¡¨
Soon, four others dressed in Chinese military uniforms ran after them, took them
down, covered their mouths, tied them up with chains and pointed pistols at
their heads.
¡§The ¡¥skit¡¦ that the Tibetans just performed is not really a ¡¥skit,¡¦ because
it¡¦s something that has happened a lot during the past decades to Tibetans
living within Tibet under Chinese occupation,¡¨ said Son Yu-lian (®]¤ÍÁp),
secretary-general of the Taiwan Labour Front, which was one of several civic
groups taking part in the Free Tibet parade.
Speaking to the demonstrators, Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) president Chow
Mei-li (©P¬ü¨½) said that Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama¡¦s announcement
earlier in the week that he would retire from exile government functions was a
¡§slap at the CCP regime.¡¨
¡§Traditionally, the Dalai Lama serves as both the spiritual and political leader
of Tibet, and never retires,¡¨ Chow said. ¡§But now, even the Dalai Lama has
announced his retirement ¡X we want to ask when is the CCP government going to
retire?¡¨
She added that the current Dalai Lama had pushed for democratic reforms in
exile, leading to the elections of a legislative body and the
government-in-exile through popular votes by Tibetans living in exile. In
addition to the mostly adult demonstrators, there was also a high school
student, Own Ching-ning (¯Î¼y¹ç), who came from Taoyuan to join the parade.
¡§It¡¦s just natural for us Taiwanese to join the Tibetans in their struggle for
freedom, because we¡¦re all facing the same threat ¡X China,¡¨ Own said. ¡§Although
many people may think it¡¦s the business of the grown-ups to support the free
Tibet movement, I think people in high school are old enough to show care for
the world.¡¨
Jesse Duffield, a New Zealander who has been living in Taiwan for four years,
said he has participated in many events related to the Tibetan cause, ¡§because
of my support for the Tibetans¡¦ right to determine their own future as an
independent nation.¡¨
Besides showing their support for Tibet¡¦s freedom, the demonstrators also
observed a minute of silence and prayed for people in Japan who are suffering
from the devastation brought by a massive earthquake and tsunami on Friday.
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