A press conference was hosted for the annual “Cycling for a Free Tibet” event in front of Taipei’s Zhongshan MRT station this Wednesday, which will see cyclists riding through various cities in Taiwan every week until March 10, the 66th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day.
The Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT) first launched the event in Taiwan in 2009, hoping to bring attention to the Chinese government’s continued suppression of Tibet. This year, the HRNTT invited human rights advocacy groups from both Tibet and Hong Kong to visit Taiwan to show their support.
Executive committee member of the Hong Kong Outlanders Sky Fung (馮詔天) said Hong Kong has experienced the same treatment by China’s government as Tibet. He cited the similarities between the Seventeen Point Agreement and the one country, two systems concept, which he criticized as empty promises that merely serve as a means for the Chinese government to exert total control.
Fu Tong (赴湯), another Hong Kong exile living in Taiwan, explained that leaving home does not mean giving up; rather, it is a kind of persistence. He emphasized that while the Chinese government endeavors to divorce exiles from their sense of identity, as long as there are Hong Kongers who remember their roots, they will continue to fight for their rights.
Programme and Environment Coordinator for the International Tibet Network Lobsang Yangtso added that China’s influence has had an effect on Taiwan and the rest of the world, as well. She emphasized that the whole world should be wary of China’s attempts to expand, and that all democratic societies should unite to resist totalitarianism.