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Tuesday, January 13th 2009
DALAI LAMA BLESSES CHTHONIC AND THE 2009 FREE TIBET CONCERT
For Immediate Release
January 13, 2009
DALAI LAMA BLESSES CHTHONIC AND THE 2009 FREE TIBET CONCERT
In order to facilitate the 2009 Free Tibet Concert, ChthoniC vocalist Freddy
Lim, along with several musicians from Taiwan, visited the political and
spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan
government-in-exile is located. Freddy expressed the mission of this
concert, and extended many welcomes from Taiwanese people for Dalai Lama to
visit anytime. Dalai Lama reiterated the idea that “supporting Tibet is
supporting freedom and human rights which are valued all over the world.”
ChthoniC has always cared about human rights, and they feel connected to
Tibet who shares a similar history with Taiwan. Ever since the Chinese
government claimed its sovereignty, Tibet has been under military threat and
international pressure. Like Taiwan was targeted by thousands of missiles
from China and lost its stand in front of the world, millions of Tibetans
fought hard and lost their lives and homeland.
ChthoniC held the Free Tibet Concert in 2003 in Taipei with the Beastie Boys
and many other artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan in attendance. However,
most of the artists went silent after being blacklisted in China. ChthoniC
remains the only band speaking up for Tibet from their own politically
sensitive country.
From human rights to Tibetan and Taiwanese independence, Freddy conveyed
these issues during ChthoniC’s international tours. Freddy was very
impressed with the smiles of the Tibetan orphans staying in school during
holidays. “Behind the beautiful smiles lies the fact that these kids might
never see their families again. Their parents had friends bring them to
India by walking through the Himalayas. Some kids did not even make it due
to the cold and tough roads.”
“ChthoniC also named their tours ‘UNlimited Taiwan’ when participating on
Ozzfest in the US, the Wacken Open Air music festival in Germany, and many
other events in Europe. The name ‘UNlimited Taiwan’ suggests that the United
Nations somehow sacrificed its beliefs for human rights when facing the
powerful China in the interest of huge economical benefits.
Freddy’s visit to Dharamsala soon caught the attention of many international
groups who support Tibet. Media coverage and interviews from Norwegian Voice
of Tibet, Radio Free Asia in the US, and Tibet Times made this trip more
visible to the world.
2009 is the fiftieth anniversary of Tibet’s resistance since the Chinese
invasion. Many famous artists such as Bjork and Radiohead have been
supporting Tibet for a long time. ChthoniC would like to invite worldwide
supporters of Tibet to join the 2009 Free Tibet Concert in Taipei, Taiwan.
With the blessings from his holiness the Dalai Lama, ChthoniC affirms to
make the 2009 Free Tibet Concert successful.