Taipei: Co-inciding with the first day of the Chinese new year on 1 February, the Office of Tibet Taiwan hosted a prayer service to mark the occasion. The prayer service was led by OOT Culture Officer Venerable Jamphel Choezin. It was attended by Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen along with Vice-Consular of Mongolia and sixty other students of Tibetan Buddhism and Culture.

On 5 February, the fifth day of the Chinese new year, Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen visited the Wuyuan Spiritual Culture Park in Yilan County, Taiwan. The park was founded by Mr. Lee Chiu-ching, the owner of the famous Wutao bento chain store in Taiwan. The park has not only Tibetan religious features such as the meridian wheel and various thangka paintings, but also sculptures and paintings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Mr. Wang Hsiu-chi and his wife, the president of the Taiwan Sculpture Society and the president of the Taiwan Cultural and Creative Association, Mr. Yangbichir, the disciple of the famous Chinese painter Zhang Daqian, and Mr. Bayul, the representative of the Mongolian father, were also present.

Earlier on 18 December 2021,  the Association for Permanent Peace in Taiwan invited Prof. Sik-Chang Tsai, Director of the Institute of Japanese Politics and Economics, Tamkang University, Dr. Shih-Ping Fan, Professor of the Institute of Political Science, National Taiwan Normal University, and Dr. Yu-Shih Liao, member of the National Policy Advisory Committee of Taiwan, to hold an international academic seminar.

On January 5, 2022, Mr. Du Tsu-Sheng, former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan and renowned diplomatic expert, Mr. Gu Ruisheng, former Director of the Research and Design Council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan, and Mr. Akio Ishiban, renowned political commentator and President of the Japan Sankei Shimbun in Taiwan, convened the Asia Pacific Democracy Summit.

On October 12, 2021, Mr. Huang Chien-Ming, the founder of the Taiwan Association for Permanent Peace, met with him.

On November 5, 2021, the Mongolian-Tibetan Cultural Center of the Ministry of Culture in Taiwan held the Tibetan Cultural Festival, and another part of the festival was the “One Sand, One World – Sand Altar Art Exhibition”, which was performed on November 28 at the Grand Hall of the National Father’s Memorial Hall.

On 21 December 2021, Taiwan Culture Office invited Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen to the inauguration of a new memorial dedicated to the 7th Changkya Rinpoche. He met the Taiwan Culture minister, Deputy Culture minister and former Culture minister at the inauguration. He also met several Taiwanese parliamentarians, Deputy Consular officer of Mongolia, and the chairpersons of Taiwan Tibetan Association and Mongolian Association in Taiwan. During the meeting, he requested the Taiwan Culture ministry to organise more events on Tibetan history and co-ordinate with the Tibetan people or the Office of Tibet.

On January 13, Mr. Huang Chun-sheng, pastor of the Jinan Church in Taiwan, and Mr. Yang Xian-hong, president of the Taiwan Human Rights Care Alliance, met with the board of directors of the Taiwan Vision Foundation. They expressed their desire to organise an international religious conference and stated that they have already extended an invitation to His Holiness the Dalai Lama through the Taiwan Representative Office based in the US.

In the afternoon, we met with Mr. Chen Tangshan, former Foreign Minister, Chairman of Taiwan Vision Foundation, Dr. Lai Yi-chung, CEO of the Foundation, and the head of the International Exchange and Research Group of the Foundation.

On 26 November 2021, at the invitation of Taiwan University, Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen addressed over 60 first year students of the university. He spoke about the Tibetan plateau, Tibet’s ecology, Tibetan culture, and the etymology of the term ‘Tibet’ or ‘Bod’. He also spoke on Tibet’s rivers and its impact on the riparian countries, and the division of traditional Tibet by the Chinese government into various autonomous provinces, prefectures, and counties.

Report filed by OOT Taiwan