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Hundreds commemorate
Tibetan uprising of 1959
DYING FOR FREEDOM: An international crowd of Tibet supporters lay down
outside the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in remembrance of people who have
self-immolated
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
A group dressed up as Chinese
police and soldiers attack make-believe Tibetans in a skit acted out in
connection with a demonstration in Taipei yesterday marking the 53rd anniversary
of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Demonstrators marking the 53rd
anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising carry 18 cardboard coffins in Taipei
yesterday in remembrance of the 18 Tibetans who have died after setting
themselves alight in China since March last year.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Hundreds of people — Tibetans and
non-Tibetans alike — marched in Taipei yesterday to commemorate the 53rd
anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule and to remember
the Tibetans who have set themselves on fire to protest China’s violation of
their freedoms of religion and expression.
Carrying model coffins covered with Tibetan flags and with pictures of the 28
Tibetans who have self-immolated in protest at Chinese rule in Tibet since March
last year, 18 of whom have died, and following banners that read “Burned for
Tibet” and “Immolated for freedom,” hundreds of people chanting slogans marched
from the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station to Taipei 101.
“Tibet was an independent country until the Chinese invasion in 1950, which
turned us into refugees,” Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Taiwan president
Tenzin Chompel told demonstrators before they began their march. “Since 1950, we
Tibetans have been fighting for our freedom, and recently 28 people set
themselves on fire for our freedom and religion.”
Tibetans have never ceased their resistance to Chinese occupation since the
invasion in 1950. In 1959, a large-scale uprising occurred, leading to a brutal
crackdown by the Chinese, and the escape of the 14th Dalai Lama across the
Himalayas into Tibet.
“For [exiled Tibetans’] right to go home and for the independence of our
country, we will continue the struggle,” Tenzin Chompel said.
Taiwan Friends of Tibet president Chow Mei-li (周美里) called on Taiwanese to show
their support for the Tibetans’ struggle, because the majority of Taiwanese,
like Tibetans, are Buddhists.
She also urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to speak out on Tibet.
“When President Ma keeps silent as Tibetans suffer, he is an accomplice,” she
said. “Ma should stop all cross-strait religious exchanges until China withdraws
armed forces from Tibetan temples and monasteries.”
A number of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians — including
legislators Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如), Taipei
City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏), former Tainan County commissioner Su
Huan-chih (蘇煥智) and DPP deputy secretary-general Kao Chien-chih (高建智) — took
part in the march.
“I’m ashamed to be the citizen of a country where government officials have
close ties with Chinese officials and pretend they do not see what is happening
in Tibet — I apologize to you [Tibetans] for it,” Tuan said. “But I assure you
that not all Taiwanese are cowards like our government officials.”
Once the parade reached Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, all of the marchers lay down
on the road in silence for three minutes in memory of Tibetans who had
sacrificed their lives for the Tibetan cause.
“When you lie on the street, think of the Tibetans who fell on the soil of Tibet
because they were shot by Chinese troops as they took to the streets calling for
freedom, just as we are doing now,” one parade organizer said.
In addition to Tibetans and their Taiwanese supporters, there were participants
from many countries.
“The Tibetan situation is getting more and more severe, and it’s unacceptable to
anyone in the world. That’s why people in many countries around the world are
taking to the streets today to express their support for Tibet,” said Julie
Couderc, a French national and doctoral student at National Taiwan University’s
Graduate Institute of National Development. “This is also why I feel that I must
come here to stay with the Tibetans — human rights is the most fundamental
thing.”
Amnesty International Taiwan board member Tashi Tsering, an Indian-born
Tibetan-Taiwanese, thanked the Taiwanese for their support, which, he said, made
them proud of telling exiled Tibetans in India that they are from Taiwan.
“I’ve been in Taiwan for 14 years. Ten years ago, we felt ashamed to tell other
Tibetans that we’re from Taiwan, because at the time, no one knew about the
Tibetan issue, and that the government considered Tibet an inseparable part of
the Republic of China,” Tashi said.
“Now we’re proud to tell other Tibetans where we’re from, because all Tibetans
living in exile or within Tibet can see how supportive the Taiwanese are of our
struggle for freedom,” Tashi said.
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