By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, Aug 21: In a bid to reshape Tibet’s international perception and further integrate the region into China’s narrative, Chinese academics have proposed a change in nomenclature, urging the use of “Xizang” over “Tibet” when referring to the occupied country in English. The proposal emerged from the 7th Beijing International Seminar on Tibetan Studies, a three-day event held from August 14 to 16. The seminar featured over 320 attendees and more than 40 scholars from countries outside mainland China.
Professor Wang Linping, a scholar affiliated with the College of Marxism at Harbin Engineering University was a prominent voice behind this proposal. He contended that the term “Tibet” had inaccurately portrayed the geographical boundaries of the region, consequently fostering misunderstandings among the global community. To rectify this, he emphasized the importance of adopting “Xizang,” which represents the Mandarin romanization of Tibet, as a more precise designation reflecting the true scope of the region.
The seminar’s official report emphasized a critical aspect of the issue: the term “Tibet” as commonly used globally encompasses regions that extend beyond the borders of the so called Tibet Autonomous Region. This broader interpretation includes areas within provinces such as the so called Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan.
This move is consistent with Beijing’s broader propaganda strategy, articulated by President Xi Jinping during the 2017 Communist Party Congress. The strategy aims to foster a “sense of community for the Chinese nation” while promoting the use of Mandarin to reinforce national identity within ethnic minority regions.
English-language editions of prominent Chinese state media outlets have gradually incorporated “Xizang” in place of “Tibet” since 2019. Notable examples include the party’s official mouthpiece, People’s Daily, and the nationalist tabloid, Global Times. Furthermore, the state-run Xinhua news agency and the English-language reports of the China Global Television Network (CGTN) have also begun adopting the term “Xizang” in their coverage.
Since its annexation by the People’s Liberation Army in 1950, Tibet has remained a focal point of global attention and political tension for China. The exile of the Dalai Lama to India and his advocacy for greater autonomy for Tibet have been long-standing sources of disagreement between Beijing and Tibetan counterparts.
While the term “Xizang” has gained traction in pro-CCP media outlets, no major international state media outlet has yet adopted “Xizang” in place of “Tibet.” It is important to note that foreign ministry statements continue to use the term “Tibet.” Critics argue that this linguistic shift underscores China’s ongoing efforts to shape and control the narrative surrounding Tibet. The tactic has been employed to other occupied regions as well by China to suit their narrative; East Turkestan is widely being referred to as Xinjang by the international community.
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China viewed incorporating Tibet as important to consolidate its frontiers and address national defense concerns in the southwest.
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This is another sinister design by evil Communist China to obliterate Tibet from the face of the earth!!! The Tibetan Government in exile and every Tibetan who are writers, reporters, academics including every one who may just write letters to the editor or comment on any of the social media platforms MUST ALWAYS adhere to the time old name of our country as TIBET and NEVER EVER WRITE OR MENTION EVEN IN YOUR NORMAL CONVERSATION THE ABOMINABLE CHINESE NAME TO OUR COUNTRY. The CCP is now completely wiping out every visage of Tibet, be it culture, religion, language and identity to transform us into Chinese! Tibetans are being moulded into Chinese without any distinct culture, religion, language and identity. We are being made into a carbon copy of Chinese! THIS IS CALLED GENOCIDE!!! WE WILL NEVER ACCEPT THE DISSOLUTION OF OUR RACE INTO CHINESE RACE!!! Every Tibetan has a responsibility to prevent this barbaric assimilation before we are dissolved into Chinese race. We must dress Tibetan, speak Tibetan, learn Tibetan language and follow the teachings of Lord Buddha/ HH The Dalai Lama and be proud to be Tibetans! We must discard anything that is Chinese such as eating with chopsticks, listening to Chinese music or watching Chinese films. Never show any fondness towards Chinese or their ways. It is time to stop the insane idea that Chinese are not our enemies. Such ideas have had profound negative impact on the young minds who have lost their resistance to the occupation and oppression of our people. IT IS NOW OR NEVER! IF WE WANT TO SURVIVE AS A DISTINCT RACE, WE HAVE TO KNOW THE ENEMY AND PROTECT ONESELF FROM THE PERFIDY OF OUR NEMESIS! TIBETANS SHOULD STOP MARRYING FOREIGNERS, ESPECIALLY CHINESE. The equally sinister agenda is to CARVE OUT ALL THE AREAS BEYOND THE DRICHU འབྲི་ཆུ་ཕར་རྒྱབ་ (which consists of most of Kham and Amdo) as “Chinese territory”!!! They have long been attempting to divide traditional Tibet by configuring them with Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunan and Chinghai and Kansu. As an age old imperialist, the Chinese have been applying the same divide and rule tactic in Tibet. THEIR BIGGEST EFFORT HAS BEEN TO DIVIDE TIBET BY TRYING TO WIN THE FAVOUR OF A CERTAIN SECTION OF OUR COMMUNITY TO THEIR SIDE. They have made propaganda to portray this community as being discriminated by another section of the community. Unfortunately, this obnoxious Chinese propaganda had an impact on some leaders of the community who fell for the Chinese communist propaganda and secretly signed a memorandum with Kuomintang in Taiwan without the knowledge of HH The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile! Most unfortunately, in the last few years, the polarisation of this divide has only increased and it is dangerously lurching towards cataclysmic proportions. Seeing the insidious agenda of the devilish Chinese communist party, every Tibetan MUST DISCARD THE ཆོལ་ཁའི་འཐེན་འཁྱེར་ TOXIC ATTITUDE OF “US AND THEY” AND UNITE UNDER THE BANNER OF TIBET! This is now a life and death struggle against the destruction of everything we hold dear as our culture, religion, country and our identity that is BEING SYSTEMATICALLY DISMANTLED AND BULLDOZED BY THE SATANIC CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY! There is no Khampa, Amdo or U-Tsang anymore. There is only a single nationality called Tibetans. WE ARE ONE PEOPLE, ONE RELIGION, ONE LEADER AND ONE NATION CALLED TIBET FROM THE STATE OF AMDO IN THE EAST TO LADAKH IN THE WEST!
THE NATION OF TIBET AND ITS PEOPLE WILL NEVER PERISH!