Tokyo [Japan], February 12 : The Shinjuku Historical Museum Hall in Tokyo hosted a gathering of Tibetans and Japanese sympathizers recently, to commemorate the 112th anniversary of the Declaration of Tibetan Independence Day.
The event was organized on Tuesday by the Tibetan Community in Japan (TCJ) and Students for Free Tibet (SFT) to dispel the Chinese assertion that Tibet has been a part of China since antiquity and to educate the public about the significance of this historic day according to a report by Central Tibet Administration (CTA).
Participants were greeted and given an overview of the significance of the event by SFT President Tsering Dorjee and TCJ President Dorjee Shiota. The national anthems of Japan and Tibet were played, and a minute of silence was observed in memory of Kazur Gyalo Dhondup, who passed away recently at the age of 97, and the victims of the earthquake in Tibet, CTA reported.
The two guest speakers invited by the organizers are Tsewang Gyalpo Arya of the Liaison Office of the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia and Prof Ishihama Yumiko of Waseda University.
CTA reported that a talk about Tibetan history, the Dalai Lamas, and early 20th-century Japanese travelers to Tibet was given by Professor Ishihama Yumiko. She also talked about China, Russia, and India's participation in the Great Games. She noted that the discussion event falls on Japanese National Day, which commemorates the day in 660 BC that Jimmu, the first Japanese Emperor, took the throne.
In his speech, Representative Tsewang Gyalpo Arya discussed Tibet's long history of independence and how the CCP is misrepresenting the past to support its claim to the region.
He told them that the "CCP's claim to inherit Tibet from the Yuan and Qing periods was unfounded and a historical blunder, as both were foreign empires that overran China" as quoted by CTA. He gave the audience a briefing on the CCP's efforts to deny Tibetan students their mother tongue, identity, and culture, as well as the Chinese colonial boarding schools.
CTA reiterated that intellectuals, members of the general public, and supporters of Tibetans and Japanese people attended the discussion session. The event was moderated by SFT member Fujita Yoko. During the occasion, pamphlets with information about Chinese colonial boarding schools and Tibet were handed out.
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