Taipei City, Taiwan — The Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan holds the First of three Cycling for A Free Tibet events on February 10, 2021, to boycott the Winter Olympics in China until Tibet and other oppressed minorities are free.
‘China should not be given an opportunity to promote itself when it oppresses others like the people of Tibet’ This was the big slogan when cyclists of all ages and ethnicities gathered together in the streets of Taipei to promote one cause: A Free Tibet. As the build up to the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 continues, many are now disgruntled and disillusioned by China’s façade of a land of promise and opportunity.
Cycling for a Free Tibet is an annual activity that was started in 2011 by the then President of The Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan, Tashi Tsering. Since then, the event has taken on much larger connotations, and draws bigger crowds every year. The act of cycling, in a circular loop, also stands for the fact that the struggle for a Free Tibet will continue as long as it is needed.
The event was scheduled for today because according to the Tibetan Calendar, the date of 10 February coincides with the Lunar New Year, and effectively marks the start of a new calendar year. This occurrence happens once every four years, and so on this auspicious day, the first Cycling for a Free Tibet activity took place.
To kick off the activities planned for the day, Tashi Tsering., Chairman of the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan hosted a press conference, along with various other dignitaries and participated in a “decontamination/ de-obstacle ceremony”. A box containing symbols of the Coronavirus and the Communist Chinese government, along with Tsampa, was pinched together by all the dignitaries, with the box to be burned later on in the evening, in prayer hoping that Coronavirus, the tyranny of the CCP, and one year of personal illness and evil will be eliminated.
“China’s occupation of Tibet and east Turkistan is essentially a colonial occupation and countries all around the world should pay more attention to the human rights violations in Tibet, East Turkistan, Taiwan and Hong Kong,” members addressed the gathering in Tibetan, Chinese and English, and focussed on the fact that the Chinese occupation of Tibet and other territories like East Turkistan and Hong Kong, and its constant intimidation of Taiwan, is wrong. They urged countries all over the world to boycott the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics in December 2022. the People’s Republic of China (PRC),
2021 is the 70th anniversary of the signing of the "Agreement between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the Local Government of Tibet on "Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet", referred to as the "17-point Agreement". The people of Tibet have, in the last 70 years, been exposed to the true nature of the Chinese Communist government. They have been lied to, exiled, killed and their cultural identity has been massively violated. The world must realise the tribulations of the Tibetan people and, therefore it is imperative that the Beijing Olympics be boycotted. It is imperative that China be boycotted and held accountable for its actions.
