David on Formosa

More than 1,000 people marched through the East District of Taipei today to mark the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising. The date of 14 March also commemorates the protests in Tibet in 2008 that were met with bloody repression. Members of the Tibetan community in Taiwan and various human rights groups participated in the march.

There were numerous speakers before the march started. Among them Freddy Lim who noted that a few years ago the numbers joining the annual march were very small, but in the last few years it has become quite large. Other speakers included DPP legislator Chen Jie-ru (陳節如) and President of Taiwan Friends of Tibet Chow Mei-li (周美里).

Students for a Free Tibet was established in Taiwan last year. There were a lot of young people participating in the protest, a contrast to many protests in Taiwan where the 50-plus demographic dominates.

Several people carried signs supporting human rights and democracy in China. This reflected the broader concerns of some of the people joining the march. There were people concerned about democracy and human rights in China. There were also people concerned about the possible impacts of ECFA on Taiwan.

An East Turkestan flag was also present among the crowd.

This huge picture of the Dalai Lama was carried by members of the Tibetan community in Taiwan. The march came to an end near Taipei 101 with more speeches.

*More photos in the 314 Free Tibet march set at flickr.