Free Tibet takes on Union Square

Supporters of the Free Tibet movement gathered in Union Square Wednesday evening.

The rally commemorated the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese government. The March 1959 uprising came nine years after China's first invasion of the region that is culturally and linguistically distinct from the rest of the country. 

Participants were clad in white and carried American, Tibetan and Indian flags. A portrait of the Dalai Lama was at the center of the stage.

Tibetan nun Ngawang Sangdrol said she was imprisoned for 11 years for shouting "Free Tibet" during a protest and secretly recording Tibetan music.

"I know from personal experience, it is very helpful when free people lead a free nation to put pressure on the Chinese government," she said. "It makes a very big difference."

Participant Bob Holmes said he has attended this protest each year for more than a decade.

"I come to express my solidarity to the Tibetan people and renew my vow to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them until they have been freed," he said.

Former director of Students for a Free Tibet Lhadon Tethong said that the youth's involvement is a sign that China's policies have failed.

"In hundreds of cities around the world today, young Tibetans are carrying the Tibetan flag, singing the Tibetan national anthem," she said. "There's a new resurgence of the Tibetan language. So all the things that China's tried to do over all these years have failed."

Tenying Yangsel, a Tibetan volunteer with Students for a Free Tibet from Bard College, said that this kind of activism makes an impact.

"Now that I've been a part of these things, signing petitions, we have freed a lot of prisoners," she said.

Wagner graduate student Yvonne Shen volunteered at the event. Shen, who is from Taiwan, said she understands the fear of Chinese oppression and wants to bring attention to the human rights issues that often go along with it.

"Human rights is a universal issue, but people start ignoring it," she said. "I feel there is a downfall in human rights, and I want to bring attention to it."