TAIWAN: Exiled Tibetans and supporters rally in Taipei to mark Tibetan Uprising Day

Record ID: 213915

  • Title: TAIWAN: Exiled Tibetans and supporters rally in Taipei to mark Tibetan Uprising Day
  • Date: 10th March 2013
  • Summary: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (MARCH 10, 2013) (REUTERS) PEOPLE GATHERING IN TAIPEI AND WAVING TIBETAN FLAGS PEOPLE GATHERING PICTURES OF SELF-IMMOLATED TIBETANS MAN'S FACE PAINTED WITH THE TIBETAN FLAG PEOPLE CHANTING: GO TIBET TIBETAN FLAGS PEOPLE CHANTING: FREE TIBET VARIOUS OF A MOCK SKIT SHOWING CHINESE SOLDIERS OPPRESSING TIBETANS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 30-YEAR-OLD RESEARCHER WANG WAN-LING SAYING: "I've been to Tibet many times and I have Tibetan friends still living there, so I know more or less what happened. After the 2008 uprising, I visited Tibet again in 2010, local Tibetans told me that many people died, so I know these things were not lies, these things really happened." (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 40-YEAR-OLD ABORIGINAL PROTESTER INGAY SAYING: "The situation is similar in Taiwan, such as aboriginal issues. Aboriginal issues are human rights issues, and Tibetan issues are human rights issues too. I really hope people would come out and show that they care. Comparing to Tibetans, I think we lack their courage. There are already more than 100 people who sacrificed their lives for their ideology, I think Taiwan still has a long way to go." TIBETAN MONKS PRAYING MONKS PRAYING PICTURE OF THE DALAI LAMA VARIOUS OF TIBETAN MONKS CHANTING PRAYERS (SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) TIBETAN TASHI TSERING SAYING: "They decided to set themselves on fire because they have been oppressed by the Chinese government for more than 50 years, so they chose self-immolation to express their opinion. Neither the Dalai Lama or any organization are behind this. If any one was in control, the Chinese government should be responsible. If China gives Tibet democracy, human rights, and freedom, I believe there will be no more self-immolation." PEOPLE MARCHING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING BANNERS AND SIGNS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING PICTURES OF SELF-IMMOLATED TIBETANS PEOPLE WALKING SIGN READS: LET THE DALAI LAMA GO HOME MORE OF PEOPLE MARCHING
  • Embargoed: 25th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Taiwan, Province of China
  • Country: Taiwan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAC6VIF2MCYT3GJKLBB0JI8AFEW
  • Story Text: Dozens of exiled Tibetans and supporters rallied in Taipei on Sunday (March 10) to mark the 54th anniversary of Tibet's 1959 revolt against the Chinese government's control.
    Waving Tibetan flags and chanting slogans such as "Free Tibet" and "Stop Killing in Tibet", protesters demanded justice and freedom and claimed lives have lost under Chinese oppression.
    Participating the rally with her daughter, 30-year-old researcher Wang Wan-ling said she supports Tibet's cause.

    "I've been to Tibet many times and I have Tibetan friends still living there, so I know more or less what happened. After the 2008 uprising, I visited Tibet again in 2010, local Tibetans told me that many people died, so I know these things were not lies, these things really happened," Wang said.
    Holding a picture of one of the self-immolated Tibetans, aboriginal protester Ingay was said he feels empathetic to a lack of basic rights.

    "The situation is similar in Taiwan, such as aboriginal issues. Aboriginal issues are human rights issues, and Tibetan issues are human rights issues too. I really hope people would come out and show that they care. Comparing to Tibetans, I think we lack their courage. There are already more than 100 people who sacrificed their lives for their ideology, I think Taiwan still has a long way to go," he said.
    China has accused exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of providing money to encourage people to set themselves on fire, and said they had evidence to prove the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was instigating the self-immolations.
    More than 100 Tibetans have set themselves alight in protest against Chinese rule since 2009, mostly in heavily Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces rather than in what China terms the Tibet Autonomous Region. Most have died.

    "They decided to set themselves on fire because they have been oppressed by the Chinese government for more than 50 years, so they chose self-immolation to express their opinion. Neither the Dalai Lama or any organization are behind this. If any one was in control, the Chinese government should be responsible. If China gives Tibet democracy, human rights, and freedom, I believe there will be no more self-immolation," said organizer Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan in Taiwan.
    Beijing considers the Dalai Lama, who fled from China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a violent separatist. The Dalai Lama says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.
    He has called on China to investigate the self-immolations. He has said he is not encouraging them but has called them "understandable".
    China has defended its iron-fisted rule in Tibet, saying the mountainous region suffered from dire poverty and brutal exploitation until 1950, when Communist troops "peacefully liberated" it.
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