Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Tibetan self-immolator Nyingkar Tashi in an undated photo.

DHARAMSHALA, November 14: A Tibetan self-immolator, who passed away in his fiery protest, called for “freedom and independence for Tibet,” in a last message he wrote before setting himself on fire.

In his last testament, Nyingkar Tashi, 24, went on to call for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, while clearly stating that his self-immolation was in protest against the Chinese government.

Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) president Mark Kao (高龍榮) on Friday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for “surreptitiously moving Taiwan towards closer political linkages with China.”

In a strongly worded statement, Kao said that FAPA and 31 other Taiwanese-American organizations wrote to Ma last month about the renaming of the Overseas Compatriots Affairs Commission (OCAC) and they had received “no adequate response.”