'Cycling for a Free Tibet' campaign kicks off in Taipei

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) The annual "2026 Cycling for a Free Tibet" campaign was launched in Taipei on Wednesday to mark the 1959 Tibetan Uprising.

Organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT) along with other human rights groups, the event began at 9 a.m. at 228 Peace Memorial Park.

Participants later cycled to the Chun-Hsien Building of the Legislative Yuan, with organizers saying the ride symbolizes "a cycle that never ends." Campaign leaders took turns delivering speeches at the site.

Similar cycling events will be held in Taipei on Feb. 11, Feb. 25 and March 4, and in Kaohsiung on March 1, the HRNTT said.

The HRNTT also announced that the 67th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising will be marked with an afternoon march in Taipei on March 7, followed by a candlelight vigil at Liberty Square on March 10.

Tashi Tsering, secretary-general of the HRNTT and a Taiwan-based Tibetan, said he has organized the campaign annually since 2011. The cycling event serves as a prelude to March 10, which is observed as Tibetan National Uprising Day.

On March 10, 1959, around 10,000 Tibetans gathered in Lhasa to protest Beijing's tightening control. The uprising was violently suppressed, forcing the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, into exile in India and prompting an estimated 150,000 Tibetans to flee overseas, according to the HRNTT.

Tashi Tsering said that as Tibetans inside Tibet have little freedom to speak out, Tibetans living abroad bear a responsibility to raise awareness of the suffering endured in Tibet.

Despite more than six decades in exile, Tibetans have not abandoned their call for a "Free Tibet," he said, adding that they hope to help the international community better understand Tibet's current reality.

Separately, an audiobook produced by the Dalai Lama won a Grammy Award earlier this week.

Sky Fung (馮紹天), chairman of Hong Kong Outlanders, said Beijing's criticism of the award as "anti-China political manipulation" was ironic, arguing that the People's Republic of China (PRC) itself is the one that frequently interferes in cultural expression and uses mass propaganda.

Fung said Beijing's reaction reflects fear, adding that while Hong Kong and Tibet both face suppression of language and lifestyle, people can still choose to stand in solidarity with both regions and defend freedom.

Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲) said Taiwan and Tibet face similar threats from the PRC. If Taiwan turns a deaf ear to the suffering of others, he warned, the same fate could one day befall the island.

Standing with Tibet, Led said, also serves as a reminder that Taiwan still has time and space to defend its own freedoms.