(TibetanReview.net, Mar05’26) – Tibetans and supporters in Berlin (Germany), Bern (Switzerland), Taipei (Taiwan), and Canberra (Australia) have announced plans or started protest rallies, peace marches and other forms of actions to highlight the issue of Tibet ahead of the 67th anniversary of the Mar 10 Tibetan National Uprising against Chinese occupation rule in the Himalayan territory.
In Berlin, Tibet Initiative Deutschland said Feb 27 that it will commemorate the event with its nationwide campaign of “Hoist the Flag for Tibet” for the 30th year in a row.
Since 1996, hundreds of cities, towns, and districts across Germany have raised the Tibetan flag on town halls and public buildings on the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan People’s Uprising. Numerous private individuals have also supported the campaign for decades, showing publicly their support for human rights and their solidarity with the Tibetan people, said the group in a press statement.
What began three decades ago with 21 pioneering municipalities has since become one of the largest municipal human rights actions in Germany, the group said.
The statement quoted Dr. Sußmann, Mayor of Stuttgart city, as saying: “From the very beginning, Stuttgart has supported this human rights campaign. The 21 pioneers of 1996 have now been joined by more than 450 municipalities. That gives hope. Inspiring courage is the goal of the patronage Stuttgart is taking on in this anniversary year. Unfortunately, the situation in Tibet has not fundamentally improved over the past 30 years. Therefore, we will stand up for our shared values and raise the flag for human rights, cultural identity, and self-determination in Tibet.”
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In Bern, the Tibetan Community of Switzerland and Liechtenstein inaugurated on Mar 4 a week-long peaceful rally and solidarity walk from the Swiss Federal Parliament (Bundeshaus) in Bern. The walk will culminate on Mar 10 before the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Zurich.
Around 15 Tibetans, aged 35 to 75, are taking part in the march, which set off after an address by the Central Tibetan Administration’s Geneva Representative Thinley Chukki and Member of the National Council of Switzerland Katharina Prelicz-Huber.
The latter delivered to the Tibetans a message of solidarity to be read on Mar 10, signed by leaders of the Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet that included Councillor of States Diana Moser and Maya Graf; and National Councillors Leonore Borges, Nick Gucker, and Fabian Molina.
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In Taipei, it was announced Mar 4 that the annual march to commemorate the event will take place on Mar 7, with plans to highlight the issues of China’s meddling in the Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation system, denial of autonomy for Tibet, and perpetration of transnational repression.
“Autonomy over reincarnation is not merely a religious matter, but lies at the core of Tibetans’ freedom of belief and national dignity,” the CNA news agency Mar 4 quoted Kelsang Gyaltsen, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as saying at a news conference outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Since 2004, Tibetans in Taiwan and local NGOs have held an annual march in Taipei in early March to commemorate Tibetan Uprising Day. This year’s march is set to gather at MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing Station at 1 pm Saturday, pass by the Taipei branch of the Bank of China and end at Taipei 101, the report said.
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In Canberra, the Australia branch of Amnesty International on Mar 5 called on the public to show up in solidarity on Mar 10, when the Tibetan community will gather at Parliament House to mark the 67th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day.
The group took note of the fact that one of the greatest threats to Tibetan identity is the boarding school system, where Tibetan children (some as young as four) are forcibly separated from their families and taught only in Mandarin, cutting them off from their language and culture.
“We cannot stay silent while a generation of Tibetan children is taken from their language, culture, and community. This is a community-led rally that we are proud to endorse and support,” the group said on its amnesty.org.au website.