Dharamshala, 11th September: Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, the representative of the Tibetan exiled administration in Taiwan, stated on Thursday during a book launch ceremony at the Legislative Yuan that the decades-long Chinese tyranny against the Tibetans was to serve as a warning to Taiwanese.
Throughout the years, Tibetan intellectuals have been forced into exile or confronted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with terrible repression in their native country, and their suffering continues to this day, the representative stated.
Kelsang added that seven decades of Tibetans’ blood and tears were shed after a peace pact between the His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s Government and the CCP was signed in Beijing, in 1951. He referred to the 17 Point Agreement which recognized Chinese authority over Tibet but pledged a high degree of autonomy for the Tibetans. He went on to say that Tibet’s experience should serve as a reminder to Taiwanese that the country’s freedom and democracy are in their hands.
The Tibetan representative assumed his post in January as the chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the representative office of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Taiwan. On Thursday, he was joined by several Taiwanese lawmakers at a launch event for a book about the peace treaty published with the support of his foundation.
Image Credit: focustaiwan