Tibet talk tour held ahead of Taiwan’s general election

INTERNATIONAL DESK: There is less than a month left until Taiwan’s general election takes place in January 2024. Increasing Chinese pressure on Taiwan makes this election a closely watched event, both by the Beijing government and the international community. In such a crucial time and space, various discussions and events are happening around Taiwan with China in focus.

In consideration of this important period, Dolma Tsering, a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of the National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University and a group of young Tibetan scholars organised a week-long Tibet tour talk from 4th to 8th December to bring more discussion about the Tibet issue in Taiwan especially among the younger generation. Dolma Tsering is the lead organiser as well as coordinator of the tour with the participants being young Tibetan scholars from India including Dr Lobsang Yangtso from the International Tibet Network, Dr Jigme Yeshe from the University of Calcutta and Apa Lhamo from the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy (CCAS).

The tour started on 4th December 2023 with a panel titled “Seven Decades of the Tibet and China Conflict: Core Issues and Future Prospects” at China in the World 2023, an international summit organised by a Taiwanese NGO named the Doublethink Lab. Foreign Minister Joseph Wu inaugurated the summit which had more than 300 participants from different countries. Dr Lobsang Yangtso, Dr Jigme Yeshe and Apa Lhamo are the three main speakers who presented papers on important issues including China’s increased surveillance in Tibetan areas including the imposition of grid management and double house link system, China’s increased control over religious freedom and institutions and the environmental implications of the Chinese government’s massive infrastructural developments in Tibet. Dr Sriparna Pathak from India also joined the panel with a presentation on China’s disinformation on Tibet.

Following the panel at the summit on China 2023, on 6th December, in association with Taiwan and Tibet Human Rights Network, three speakers along with a Member of Parliament Lobsang Gyatso Sither discussed Tibet under Xi Jinping’s Leadership. Three speakers highlighted the growing concern about Xi Jinping’s increased control and Sinicization of Tibetan identity and culture using religious and educational institutions as the primary targets. Environmental and socio-economic implications of the forceful resettlement of Tibetan nomads were also highlighted in the discussion.

On 7th December, the tour stopped for a discussion at the New Bloom Magazine, an NGO that is known for conducting discussions about various issues including both domestic and international issues. Dolma Tsering and Aurora Chang, cross-movement coordinator at the International Tibet Network organised the discussion.

The final destination of the discussion covered the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Southern Taiwan. This discussion was organised in collaboration with the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, at National Yang-Ming Chiao-Tung University. Professor Man-To Leung a dissident from Hong Kong participated as the moderator and stressed that the kind of policies and control imposed in Tibet is Chinese colonialism of Tibet.(CTA)