(TibetanReview.net, Feb06’25) –The bugle for commemorations marking the 66th anniversary of the Mar 10 Tibetan national uprising was sounded in Taiwan’s capital Taipei on Feb 5 with the launch of the “2025 Cycling for a Free Tibet” campaign.
Participants in the campaign, including Tibetan exiles, are cycling through the streets of Taipei every Wednesday, leading up to Tibetan Uprising Day on Mar 10, to speak out for those oppressed in China, reported the CNA news agency Feb 5, citing a statement from the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT).
A similar cycling event will be held in Kaohsiung too, on Mar 1, the report said.
These will be capped by an afternoon march on Mar 9 in Taipei by the Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association and other groups, followed by a candlelight vigil on Mar 10 at Liberty Square.
The dozen or so participants in the Feb 5 event took off from 228 Peace Park at 9AM and stopped before the Legislative Yuan for a press conference. The gathering here also featured speeches by Taiwanese legislators Shen Boyang and Chen Peiyu. Tibetan Speakers included HRNTT Secretary-General Tashi Tsering and Dharamsala-headquartered Tibetan Youth Congress President Gonpo Dhondup, reported the ANI new service.
The Tibetan Youth Congress, which boasts 35,000 members, campaigns for Tibet’s independence from Chinese rule – as against the exile Tibetan administration’s demand for genuine autonomy for a united Tibetan homeland.
The rally then took off with chanting of slogans such as “Free Tibet” and “Tibet belongs to Tibetans”. It passed through key locations in Taipei, including Revival Sogo, the Bank of China, and Taipei 101.
“Many of my friends say, ‘Your slogans have remained the same from the beginning until now’,” Tashi Tsering, has said, explaining that it was because the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) suppression of Tibetans “has not changed at all” since 1959, the year of the Tibetan uprising.
The first cycling rally was held in 2011 and has continued every year ahead of the uprising anniversary over the last 15 years, noted en.rti.org.tw Feb 5.
Gonpo Dhondup has said, “the Tibetan people will continue to fight until our rightful independence is restored.”