Taipei: The Office of Tibet in Taipei held a gathering to celebrate the U.S. enactment of the Resolve Tibet Act concurrently with the ceremony of taking over of charge by the newly elected executive members of the Tibetan Association of Taiwan on 11 August 2024.

As part of the handing and taking over ceremony, the President of the Tibetan Association’s 10th executive members briefed the association’s annual report. Following this, the electees for the 11th executive members were introduced before the gathering along with their respective responsibilities. The newly elected members then pledged their commitment to working in alignment with the directives of the Office of Tibet during their tenure.

In response, Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa, Office of Tibet, Taipei, implored the new members to continue the sincere yet voluntary endeavours of the past members. He further encouraged the newly elected members to collaborate with the Office of Tibet in future undertakings, particularly in preparations for the forthcoming 90th birthday celebration of His Holiness and in programmes designed to promote Tibetan language usage amongst young Tibetans in Taiwan.

Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa then presented ceremonial scarves to all the outgoing and incoming members and a certificate to the outgoing President as a souvenir.

In the afternoon of the same day, a celebration expressing gratitude to the U.S. government for approving the Resolve Tibet Act was held in the presence of staff of the Office of Tibet, members of the Tibetan Association, members of Tibet Support Groups, and members of Taiwan-based Students for Free Tibet.

While addressing the gathering, Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa extended gratitude to the U.S. government for the enactment and beseeched the Taiwanese government for similar moves. At the same time, he expressed his deep disappointment over the remarks made by Deputy Director of the Taiwanese Mainland Affairs Council in an interview where the latter considered Tibet as part of China. He called for a solidarity between the two sides given both being subjects of Communist Party of China’s repression.

The gathering was also addressed by all the attendees, including a representative of the participating NGOs, Lin Hsinyi, who congratulated Tibetans for the passage of the Tibet bill in the U.S. and echoed similar disappointment over the above-mentioned Deputy Director’s remarks.

Later that evening, a dinner reception was hosted for the new and old members of the Tibetan Association of Taiwan.

-Report filed by Office of Tibet, Taipei