IANS
ON THE WEB, 28 November 2017
Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay on Tuesday hailed a bill passed by the Taiwanese parliament that dissolved nearly a century old ministry-level Mongolian Tibet Affairs Commission (MTAC), saying it was creating misunderstanding between Tibetans and Taiwanese.
“The MTAC has been a sore point and source of misunderstanding between Tibetans and Taiwanese. Personally, I have opposed MTAC since my college days and I am glad to see it shut down,” said Sangay in a statement.
Taiwan’s Yuan on Tuesday approved the bill to dissolve the MTAC.
Ruling Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lee Chun-yi, also a member of the committee for dissolving the commission, said: “As things change with time, our concerns for issues regarding Mongolia and Tibet should have changed course much earlier. What we should do is protect the Mongolian and Tibetan community in Taiwan and guarantee that Mongolian and Tibetan culture will continue to be respected in Taiwan.”
Dating back to the Chinese Empire, the organisation, meant to oversee relations with its Mongolian and Tibetan dominions, was renamed MTAC in 1929 in then Republic of China and continued in Taiwan.
Long overdue, If Taiwan cannot treat Mongolians and Tibetans on equal footing, what is the difference between them and the Mainland. It is a misnomer to use the word, “misunderstanding”. To us Tibetans and Mongolians, China is China, whether in Mainland or in Taiwan; a Han race trying to subdue us. With the abolition of MTAC, we hope Taiwan will understand our past concern and aggravation and treat us as partners and not master-slave as our goals in this day and age are the same.