By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 8: Raising the Tibetan flag at the Capitol hill riot is “concerning”, the North America Representative at the Office of Tibet in Washington Ngodup Tsering told Voice of Tibet on Friday amid sentiments of outrage and alarm by section of the Tibetan online community.
On Wednesday, supporters of US President Donald Trump, few carrying Tibetan flags among them, stormed the building as the House of Representatives and the Senate held a joint session to certify the results of the presidential election where Democrat Joe Biden has emerged victorious. Photos appearing in social media and mainstream news agency portals showed a few individuals in Tibetan attire holding Tibetan flags and banners that espoused their support for the incumbent US President.
The images have since drawn stark reactions from Tibetan netizens, many of them condemning the act of carrying the Tibetan national flag and representing Tibet in the riots. NA parliamentary candidate Thondup Tsering wrote in his Facebook, “In the midst of all these lawlessness and chaos, it pains me deeply to see our sacred Tibetan national flag. I have no reservations against any Tibetan supporting Trump, but I urge my fellow Tibetans to distance themselves from any situation involving violence and violation of the law as it is not only morally wrong but it is against everything we Tibetans stand for.
“Projecting our national flag in a highly condemnable mass riot puts our nation Tibet, and our very standing in the international community into jeopardy. We cannot afford to denigrate our Tibetan national identity and symbol for the sake of one’s political affiliation.”
President of the exile Tibetan government known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration Dr. Lobsang Sangay when asked on the incident, told the members of the press, “As human beings we have our personal dispositions, feelings and the right to express it. While expressing admiration is fine, do not express overly critical and objectionable sentiments as it can prove to be highly counter productive in the future for the Tibetan movement with regards to bipartisan support from the two US political parties.”
Dr. Sangay added, “Do not carry the Tibetan flag and represent Tibet while espousing support or objection to a particular party as it may drag the Tibetan movement along with personal affiliations of individuals.”
Tibetan netizens have expressed condemnation for the act while few questioned the identity of the rioters carrying the Tibetan flag and whether they are Tibetans to begin with. The mob has reportedly vandalized the public offices and clashed with law enforcement personnel resulting in the death of 5 including a police officer and arrests of 80 people.
13 Responses
Those who werde by the riots at the capitol must know that they do‘nt represent Tibetan nation. So they have no right to go there with Tibetan national flag. If they go there, it is their right. That is their individuel dicision. But please without Tibetan national flag.
We go with Tibetan national flags when we demonstrate for Tibet against the Chinese communist government or welcome pur own leaders.
Seeing the Tibetan flag in the recent rioting in the Capital Hall has no proof that it was the Tibetan who did that. It could be anybody with ill intention to tarnish the peaceful image of Tibetan freedom movement and make us look like showing political affiliation or allegiance. There should be a thorough investigation into the matter and find out the real identity of a person carrying the Tibetan national flag there. I believe it must be the game plan of hostile forces who had deliberately done that to create unnecessary problems for us and weaken the supports, we are getting from the people and the government of the United States of America.
We need to be careful now and there is an urgent need for a new rules to bar such incident from happening again in future. An individual person cannot misuse the Tibetan flag and represent us in any forum without the mandate.
In this day and age of misinformation and unverified claims, it is wise when reacting to realize that anybody can purchase a flag, or monk’s robes. The hard part is telling the real from the fake and deciphering the underlying premise.
Donald Trump has done for Tibet and Tibetans what no American President has ever done. So of course there will be Tibetans who support Trump. Are we in the United States of America or CCP ruled China? There were other American patriots of Vietnamese, Korean, Indian, Iranian and other origins too who were supporters of Trump – who were grateful for his policies and support who felt massive voter fraud took place and wanted to show solidarity with President Trump. But the violence by some robbed them of any chance of serious objection and discussion in the congress which is most unfortunate.
There was voter fraud beyond a shadow of doubt and more than half of the population believe that and are not happy. For now Biden takes over because of the media oligarchs and the globalists who are all out to get Trump. But at what cost. America is divided and will never be the same again. Pray for America as they say when America sneezes, the world catches cold.
It is concerning but not really very surprising seeing that many Tibetans supported Donald Trump at the expense of thousands dying of Covid, children imprisoned at the border, the reversal of clean air and water acts, employing unidentified federal goons to control peaceful protests, supporting white supremacy, denial of climate change, can’t find Tibet on the map. All because they mistakenly thought he would be hard on China. They have been very quiet. China is stronger by leaps and bounds with Trumps actions.
Where was your concern of thousands dying of covid during the events of this summer when Antifa and BLM thugs indulged in rioting, looting and wanton violence? Of course the media and the Democrat party framed that particular wave of lawlessness as “peaceful” protests.
Did you raise your voice when Obama deported more illegals than any president during his administration?
Read the article in Washington Times- “Immigration loophole, often ripped by Trump, finally confirmed by DHS data”. Its better that innocent children are not thrown into situation where they are trafficked. That is worse.
Sorry, but the white supremacy label just doesn’t stick with Trump. There are still ignorant overt racists that one can see flashed on the news but If I have experienced any racism and if i can call it that it was not from those ” white supremacist” but covert racism from those who like to project themselves as progressive and who hate Trump with their whole being. So, please do not make it appear so clear cut. Anyway, these so called white supremacist that you talk about have no real power in economy or politics but holding a victim mindset will definitely hold one back from getting ahead in life, that is for sure. We are more than our identity and color and race etc. We are all equal. I am more appreciative of the fact that President Trump dared to go against the establishment, elites, globalists, the wall street oligarchs and the Big tech whose economic structure if continued will bring more misery and corruption to humanity than not signing some climate accord. Sustainable economy has to be promoted and ecology as a way of life rather than some more new laws and regulations. People need to get back to the basic, take back their freedom and not be enslaved by the elites. I’m not worried about China now, thanks to Trump in part but mostly their own doing, China as an economic power is finished. I’m worried for USA and am praying for the whole country.
Sadly, your views are tainted by cliche memes such as “he’s not a politician” or “the election was stolen”. Fox and Brietbart are also media, that itself is a meaningless term which has taken on a bad connotation. I suppose next you will blame George Soros and Bill Gates. China is far from finished–as you imagine– when it comes to Hong Kong, Uighurs and Tibetans. Trump told Xi he was doing the right thing putting millions of Uighurs in camps.
Tibetans are ugly mistaken if they still support Trump, but it might be a nice gesture to visit him in jail.
What makes you think i don’t include Fox with the MSM? Yes, George Soros and Bill Gates are part of the elite. China will be done in the next decade. Tibet will be Independent in and so will the other regions. In the meantime turmoil will continue in parts of the world. Things will shift drastically. I don’t care what you think, I like to share what I perceive. You don’t have to agree.
Who are you? Your statements with no identification are cowardly. We see how your Trump has only made China stronger with his empty rhetoric. More incursions into India, more cracking down inside Tibet, more PRC influence politically and economically throughout Asia…all on Trump’s watch. Check your sourcing….”The Washington Times” …give me a break. You my friend are down the rabbit hole.
Dear 11:11 You stated “There was voter fraud beyond a shadow of doubt” Oh, really? Sixty court cases often tried by Republican judges thrown out is at least a hint that there is no evidence to support this.
“Phrases like “did not prove,” and “record does not support,” and “implausible conclusions,” and “lack of evidence” populate the opinions and orders. Judges say Mr. Trump and his team are wrong on the facts and the law.” – The Washington Times – Sunday, December 13, 2020
If you are so outraged about poor victim Trump’s cause, why not go to DC? Thanks for sharing your ‘perceptions’ but you are completely wrong.
What has he done for Tibet? please enlighten us. He talked tough on China, and created hate against the Chinese. Has life gotten better for people in Tibet? Stop trying to get other Tibetans to believe your conspiracies. Stop being selfish, only caring about Tibet. Yes, Tibet is our country and important to us but the World is everybody’s home.
It is a good thing Trump has orange skin, because it will match the orange prison jumpsuit he will be wearing for a long, long time.
Please make sure that he is not the United Front agent who is carrying the Tibetan flag. Anyone can carry Tibetan flag. Even the NYPD has CCCP mole as caught recently.