Demonstration to Commemorate 50th Anniversary of the Mysterious Plane Crash that Killed the top leaders of the Republic of Eastern Turkestan


Panoramic View of Main Gate of Florida Splendid China on August 28, 1999.

August 28th, 1999

People starting arriving on this hot August day around 11AM in anticipation of another successful demonstration against Communist Chinese propaganda.

At 12noon, members of Formosan Association for Public Affairs, World United Formosans for Independence, Students for a Free Tibet-UCF chapter, International Taklamakan Human Rights Association, Uyghur American Association, Inner Mongolian People's Party, and other supporters started the march to the main gate from the Formosa Gardens Shopping Center Parking Lot.

Megan Gainer of Students for a Free Tibet reads the Joint Statment to the assembled group.

After a thirty minutes in front of the 'Largest Chinese style gate in the United States', the participants, numbering over fifty people, gathered to listen to the joint statement read by Megan Gainer, an Education major at the University of Central Florida and stalwart member of the UCF chapter of the Students for a Free Tibet. During our thirty minute stay, the demonstrators were approached once by the Osceola Sheriff's Office and treated in a respectable and congenial manner.

Theme park security forces also came to the gate to check out allegations that demonstrators were stopping cars, but most had left for the more visible location on US-192 as he arrived. He also treated us in a courteous manner.

At the corner of Formosa Gardens Boulevard and US-192, just two miles from Disney World, the demonstrators set up long lines down both sides of the dragons that mark the entrance to Florida Splendid China. As thousands of cars passed and read signs such as "Free Tibet", "One China-One Taiwan", "Free Inner Mongolia:, "Free Eastern Turkestan","Communist Chinese Propaganda has NO Place in Florida's Schools", "Genghis Khan was not Chinese" and others in English and Chinese, many people honked their horns and shouted in support of the demonstrators.

Protestors at the corner of US-192 on August 28, 1999.

The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "Free Tibet", "One China- One Taiwan", "Free Eastern Turkestan", and "Free Inner Mongolia." Many copies of the statement were also handed out to those stopped in traffic.

Protestors at the corner of US-192 on August 28, 1999.

Despite the number of contacts with the press concerning the milestone demonstration, there were no reporters present. Mentioned as a possible reason was the demonstration being staged in Orlando by the Ku Klux Klan. This observer wonders why 'hate speech' is more pressworthy than human rights, but also considers the economic incentives to businesses that provide favorable coverage to their potential advertisers.

In support of the Taiwan Independence Party whose web-site was hacked by anti-Taiwan Independence activists, the opportunity to capture a picture of the TAIP flag in front of this symbol of Chinese government authority was not lost and will be posted soon to our web-site.

At a demonstration covering the east steps of the US Capitol Building and the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC was organized by the International Taklamakan Human Rights Association on the same day and read the same statement as included below.

Rumors that Florida Splendid China filed for bankruptcy two months ago have yet to be confirmed.

Joint Statement on the Dignity of Human Beings August 28, 1999

Gathered as free people, coerced only by our conviction to the dignity of human beings of all nationalities, we firmly establish the following:

  1. Our call for the immediate release of all political prisoners held in Chinese punitive institutions.

    • Rebiya Kadeer, mother of ten. Arrested 11 August 1999 before speaking with US Congressional delegation.

    • Tsering Dorje, translator for World Bank project investigation team. Arrested with American and Australian team members, his whereabouts have not been released.

    • Sangdrol Ngawang, Buddhist nun and recently sentenced to 21 years for attempting to call out to EU investigators to tell them the truth.

    • Hadaas and Tegexi, Mongols sentenced to 10 and 15 year prison terms for their involvement in activities to revive centuries old customs to Genghis Khan.

    • Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the world's youngest political prisoner and the real Panchen Lama of Tibet

    • And the tens of thousands of other known and unknown political prisoners, struggling to find their own human dignity in the face of Chinese government atrocities.

  2. Our call for the Chinese government to immediately speak in substantive terms with the Dalai Lama of Tibet on the future of a greater China and an autonomous Tibet.
  3. Our call to the Chinese government to end it's military terrorism of Taiwan and recognize the reality of 'One China and One Taiwan.'
  4. Our call to the United States government to fully embrace the high ideals of the Founding Fathers and immediately state in no uncertain terms US commitment to the safety and security of a democratic Taiwan.
  5. Our call to the Chinese government to open their hearts and ears and take the valiant step to cast aside one-party rule in favor of an open and free democratic society.
  6. Our call to remove and/or re-label the exhibits in the Florida Splendid China theme park that misrepresent the history and cultures of Inner Mongolia. Eastern Turkestan, and Tibet.

Sincerely submitted on the 28th day of August 1999,

Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda (CACCP)
International Taklamakan Human Rights Association (ITHRA)
Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA)
World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI)
Inner Mongolian People's Party
Tibet Online
Students for a Free Tibet - UCF Chapter

Jack Churchward
Donald Lee
Mavlan Yasin
Oyunbilig
Christina Fong