‘Freedom Torch’ lit at peak of Tibet’s Jade Mountain

The 21 member team took the torch to the peak of 13,035 foot (3,950-meter) Mount Yu, which is also the highest peak in Southeast Asia, around 7 a.m., and planted a Tibetan flag there, they said.

Jade Mountain was chosen for the torch relay as it is located at a similar latitude as the holy mountain of Tibetans, the Himalayas, according to Chou Mei-li, president of the Taiwan Friends of Tibet, one of the co-sponsors of the relay.

“From the summit of Mount Yu, they looked homeward at the Himalayas, praying for the early termination of their exile so they could return home,” she said.

The Taiwan leg of the Tibetan Freedom Torch relay, which began in Taipei Friday, is part of a worldwide relay initiated by the International Tibet Support Network in March to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and to demonstrate the hopes of the Tibetan people for freedom, justice and dignity, according to Chou.

The Tibetan torch relay was launched in Greece on March 10 and is scheduled to finish Aug. 7 at Dharmsala, India, The relay was designed to contrast with the torch relay for the Olympic Games, which open in Beijing on Aug. 8.

It is also meant to highlight Tibetans’ will to strengthen their autonomy and denounce Beijing for its crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet in March, said Thupten Chophed, an official of the Taiwan-Tibet Interchange Association. Sunday is the 73rd birthday of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, making the Taiwan leg of the relay more significant, he said.

The Tibetan Freedom Torch has already traveled to over 30 major cities in Europe, America and Asia. It will be carried to more than 20 countries worldwide before finally reaching Tibet on the eve of the opening of Beijing Olympic Games on Aug. 8.

China has governed Tibet since Communist troops marched into the Himalayan region in the 1950s.

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India during a failed uprising in 1959, has said he wants some form of autonomy that would allow Tibetans to freely practice their culture, language and religion.

Taiwan has criticized Beijing for what it says was China’s heavy-handed response to Tibetan demonstrations in March.

China claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan is part of its territory, although the sides split in 1949 during a civil war.

More information on and pictures of the torch relay can be found at http: //www.live.yahoo.com/taiwanfortibet or http://blog.yam.com/taiwanfortibet.

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