Taipei Tibet uprising anniversary rally embraces Xinjiang, Hong Kong causes as well

(TibetanReview.net, Mar07’23) – A major demonstration marking the 64^th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day was held early in Taiwan’s capital Taipei on Mar 5, with community members and Taiwanese supporters carrying out a rally through the streets with displays of Tibetan flags. More events have been planned for the following days in the run-up to the Mar 10 anniversary.

Organized by the Tibetan community and Taiwanese support groups, the around 600-strong crowd, which also included members of numerous civil society groups, called for freedom inside Tibet, according to the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Mar 6.

The event showed solidarity with Tibetans and others who protest Chinese oppression, reported the taipeitimes.com Mar 6.

Held annually in Taipei in early March since 2004, the event has grown in size and scope to also support the people of Xinjiang and Hong Kong, focustaiwan.tw Mar 5 cited organizers as saying.

Rally participants in this year’s event were stated to include Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Ming-che, 48, who had returned from China to Taiwan last year after serving a five-year sentence for “subverting state power.”

The report cited Lee as saying that during his incarceration from 2017 to last year, many exiled Tibetans had offered support and called on Beijing for his release.

The Tibet.net report said a ceremony for the event was presided over by the CTA Representative Mr Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa; Freddy Lim, Chair of the Taiwanese Parliamentary Group for Tibet; its vice chair Sun Han Hung; and other Taiwanese politicians Miao Poya and Lin Liangjun.

Tibetan Human Rights Group was stated to have begun the commemoration of this year’s anniversary on Feb 8 by organizing a weekly “Cycling for a Free Tibet” rally between Taipei and Kaohsiung City every Wednesday.

On Mar 3, Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, Freddy Lim, MP Wang Wanyu, MP Liu Shyn-Fang, and President of Tibetan Association Tashi Tsering were stated to have held a press briefing on the launch of the commemoration events.