Hundreds march in Taiwan to mark Tibetan Uprising Day

Taipei

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Taipei over the weekend to mark the 66th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day, paying tribute to those who stood against Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule. The march, held on Sunday, was a protest against what demonstrators described as CCP-led cultural and ethnic genocide in Tibet.

The event saw participation from Taiwan's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for the first time. Vice Chairperson Wang Yu-ling emphasized that Tibet’s issues were human rights matters, stressing that “human rights have no borders.” She pointed out the CCP’s invasion of Tibet under the guise of a peace agreement and the continued destruction of Tibetan culture and religion.

Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, the Tibetan government-in-exile representative to Taiwan, also attended the march. He declared that this year’s theme, “Tibet has never been part of China,” reflected the 1951 forced signing of the Seventeen-Point Agreement by the CCP. Bawa condemned the agreement as a cover for China’s occupation of Tibet, which led to the deaths of over 1.2 million Tibetans.

The Tibetan Uprising Day commemorates the brutal suppression of a 1959 protest in Lhasa, which resulted in the Dalai Lama’s flight to India and the exile of around 150,000 Tibetans. Bawa reminded the crowd that the event is not only about remembering Tibet’s past but also a warning about the fate of Taiwan and other regions under CCP’s control.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, addressing the ongoing 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, raised significant concerns over the continued human rights violations in Tibet.