News and Views on Tibet

India’s seismology centre uses “Xizang” for Tibet despite Tibetan advocacy group’s plea

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Tenzing Dhamdul (second right), Dr. O.P. Mishra (center), Director of NCS, and Tenzin Lhatso during their meeting on January 21, 2025 (Photo/V-TAG India)

Tenzin Nyidon 

DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 24: The National Center for Seismology (NCS), India’s leading agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences responsible for monitoring earthquakes, is under scrutiny for consistently using the colonial term “Xizang” instead of “Tibet” in its report and updates, particularly in the wake of the devastating January 7 earthquake in Southern Tibet’s Dingri and its subsequent aftershocks.

The NCS has referred to Tibet as “Xizang” in more than 55 instances issued between January 7 and January 16, including its official preliminary report on the Dingri earthquake. This has sparked concerns from the Voluntary Tibet Advocacy Group (V-TAG), a Tibetan advocacy group under the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) over the use of this term, which is viewed as a propaganda tool imposed by the Chinese government to undermine Tibet’s distinct historical and cultural identity.

Tenzing Dhamdul and Tenzin Lhatso, researchers based in Delhi, representing the V-TAG met with NCS Director Dr. Om Prakash Mishra to address the issue. During the meeting held on Tuesday, they outlined the geopolitical implications of India adopting the term “Xizang.” They also inquired whether this terminology reflected an official shift in India’s policy. 

Dhamdul told Phayul that the NCS director reassured them, stating, “For India, Tibet is Tibet and not Xizang.” Dr. Mishra reportedly pointed to a world map displayed at the NCS, affirming that “Tibet” is the official nomenclature used in India’s geopolitical framework. Despite this verbal assurance, a review of the NCS website reveals that “Xizang” remains in use across its report and updates. This contradiction has sparked questions about the efficacy of the dialogue and whether the NCS is willing to reconsider its terminology policy.

When asked why the NCS continues to use “Xizang” in reports such as those concerning the Dingri earthquake, despite concerns raised in the meeting, Lhatso, the Delhi Regional V-TAG Coordinator, explained that they are working to address the issue. She noted that updating their system takes time but assured that if no progress is made by late January or early February, they plan to meet the NCS team again to reiterate their concerns. Dhamdul highlighted that the scientific community’s reliance on open-source platforms like Google Earth, where latitudinal and longitudinal data automatically label the region as “Xizang,” poses a significant challenge. “This issue is not limited to India but is part of a larger global challenge,” he added.

The persistent use of “Xizang” is not limited to India. Dhamdul further pointed out that the term “Xizang” has been used by other seismological centres in countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) is a US government agency referred to the 7.1 magnitude quake as the “Southern Tibetan Plateau Earthquake,” but its administrative labelling also used “Xizang.” This inconsistency persists despite the U.S. passing the Resolve Tibet Act, which aims to counter Chinese disinformation about Tibet, including historical misrepresentations.

Despite their efforts to challenge the use of the colonial term, the concerns raised by the Tibetan advocacy group have largely been ignored. Dhamdul noted that it is likely other governments and countries may have also used “Xizang” in their reports on the Dingri earthquake. 

Observers note that scientific institutions must remain apolitical and ensure their terminology respects the historical and cultural identities of the regions they report on. By adopting “Tibet” instead of “Xizang,” the NCS could demonstrate a commitment to neutrality and inclusivity while avoiding the unintended endorsement of politically charged narratives promoted by China.

Tibetan rights groups and Central Tibetan Administration President Penpa Tsering have called on governments, Western institutions, and international media to refrain from using Chinese propaganda terminology in their coverage of the Dingri earthquake. President Tsering warned that adopting such terms carries significant geopolitical implications, inadvertently endorsing China’s claims over Tibet and undermining the region’s unique identity. “We appeal to the international community not to fall into the trap of Chinese propaganda by using Chinese names for Tibetan places,” he said. 

Although the term “Xizang” has gained traction in seismological centres in various countries and in media coverage, critics view this trend as part of China’s broader strategy to promote their narrative and reshape international perceptions of Tibet and promote territorial expansion. They argue that this shift seeks to undermine Tibet’s distinct identity, which is deeply rooted in its sovereignty prior to the colonial and illegal occupation by the People’s Republic of China. 

3 Responses

  1. Tibet is Tibet, not bloody Xizang. The international community should NOT kowtow to Beijing’s pressure to call Tibet as Xizang. The international community must show some bloody guts and call Tibet its rightful name TIBET, not damn Xizang. The bully must be challenged and defeated or else the bully will be always on your shoulder. Victory for Tibet! Victory for Hong Kong! Victory for Inner Mongolia! Victory for East Turkistan! Victory for Taiwan!

  2. The Indians have been duped by the Chinese when communist China won over Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who became an enthusiastic supporter of Communist China and endorsed Chinese baseless claims over Tibet! Nehru knew very little about Tibet. The Chinese communists knew even less. Pandit Nehru completely fell head-over-heels in love with the Chinese communists and never ever thought of the danger they posed to India’s national security! It seems, he was gullible to the devious communist rhetoric of “socialist solidarity” and “anti-imperialism” perfidy concocted by the CCP. He was more scared of his army committing a coup d’état than any Chinese designs upon India if Tibet was occupied by them. This episode of Indian gullibility to Chinese’s deceit is termed as “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai era! The Indians fell for it and lived in their fantasy of “friendship” with Communist China. He sacrificed Tibet without a thought about India’s security despite Sardar Patel’s warning of China’s intentions and the plight of the Tibetan people. The result is for all to see today. COMMUNIST CHINA’S OCCUPATION OF TIBET IS THE GREATEST NATIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGE FOR INDIA TODAY!!! The Chinese laid low until 2014 without making any statement about Arunachal Pradesh. Once, the Chinese felled they have “stabilised” Tibet, they felt bold enough to make claims over Arunachal Pradesh calling it “South Tibet” and later Zongnan. The Indian side felt miffed by these naming of their territory but there was not much they could do and asserted they are going to bring out names of places in Tibet as a tit-for-tat response. However, to date, nothing has come out. Despite such stoutish in diplomatic channels in name designation, it seems the Indian side hasn’t learnt a lesson and readily accepts Chinese nomenclature on Tibet without question to their own detriment! Even though, the Indians have named the Mon Tawang region as “Arunachal Pradesh” the Chinese never accepted the Indian designated name! So, why isn’t India’s Seismology Centre take cognisance of this and REJECT CHINESE COLONIAL NAME FOR TIBET? Are these people in cahoots with the Chinese communists or are they cowards unable to face the wrath of the Chinese communists? It seems, most Indian officials don’t even know what the Chinese are up to as far as Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh! Look at the situation in Manipur! Even the highest authority of the country didn’t even pay a visit or utter a word when Manipuri has been burning for more than a year!!! No wonder, the Indian Seismology people may not have a clue of what the Chinese are doing in these far flung states and couldn’t care less about what name China calls Tibet!!! Their myopic outlook has brought communist China to their doorsteps and now India is much like Israel where it is surrounded by hostile neighbours after Bangladesh has reneged on India and turned to China and Pakistan! Nepal is in China’s pocket already and India is left in the lurch by its closest neighbours! Why? ITS BECAUSE OF ITS TOTAL INSENSITIVITY TO THE CRIES OF ITS NEIGHBOURS! It takes for granted the good will of its neighbours and the neighbours feel the frustration of India’s apathy to their plight. How is it that, when communist China is naming Indian territory and then annexing them as they did with Aksai Chin, the Indian Seismology Centre people are still burying their head in the sand when the Chinese are doing the same to their historical neighbour Tibet??? Don’t they realise that it is this kind of laxity that makes the Chinese get away with anything upon India or its neighbours?
    The Tibetan Government in exile made the mistake of NOT demanding independence as the Dalai Lama did in his Tawang Statement to the International Press after he fled Tibet. The world was waiting with bated breath, what had happened to the Dalai Lama for fifteen long days! International News reporters had no news about the Dalai Lama’s whereabouts while the whole world was guessing the fate of the Dalai Lama. Since, there were no news available about the Dalai Lama, some news outlets, manufactured stories about him and sent to England and elsewhere! When the Dalai Lama finally arrived in Tawang, he called a press conference in which he rejected the “17 point treaty” as having signed under duress and declared “nothing short of pre-1951 status of Tibet is acceptable to him”. THIS WAS THE TRUE ASPIRATIONS OF EVERY TIBETAN BOTH WITHIN OCCUPIED TIBET AND WITHOUT!!! THIS WAS THE HISTORICAL STATUS OF TIBET! If we had stuck with the original demand without dithering, things would have been different for Tibet. The Chinese will not be brazen in their actions in occupied Tibet and will have a moderating impact on their actions such as change of names. The world reacted very negatively to communist Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet and communist China became a pariah State. It was India who had been duped that was the First Nation to recognise communist China! Communist China was totally isolated on the world stage for a decade or two. If Tibetans demanded the end of Chinese occupation, that would have put the Chinese at unease because their claims over Tibet have no basis since the so called “17 point Treaty” was discredited for being signed under duress. Unfortunately, all this initial stand was withdrawn with the hope of “good will” from communist China and like the Indians did, in the hope of “peaceful co-existence”. That proved to be nothing but an illusion both to the Indians and the Tibetans. India gained nothing by Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai slogan while the Tibetans lost all credibility in canvassing world support since, fighting for Tibetan freedom from communist China and simultaneously cozying up to the communist regime proved to be incompatible in the eyes of Tibet supporters! It ended up with the oft repeated Tibetan saying, neither the cow from the other side nor the dung from this end. In be-tween the rope broke! ཕ་རི་བ་མེད་ ཚུ་རི་ལྕི་བ་མེད་ བར་དུ་གླེ་ཐག་ཆད་
    NEITHER RANGZEN NOR U-MEY LAM, IN-BETWEEN, THE MOVEMENT IS DIMINISHED! Now the Chinese are having a free-hand in Hannification of occupied Tibet not sparing even the name of our country known as TIBET!
    Tibetans should lobby people like US Secretary Marco Rubio to ask nations to refrain from using the Chinese colonial name which amounts to ethnic cleaning and ethnocide. In every country where Tibetans are settled, they should appeal to the politicians to lobby their Governments to refrain from using the repugnant Chinese name for Tibet or else they will be complicit in the ERASURE OF A PEOPLE TO THE DUST BIN OF HISTORY. THIS IS TEXT BOOK GENOCIDE, ETHNIC CLEANING AND ETHNOCIDE, PURE AND SIMPLE!
    ང་བོད་པར་སྐྱེས་པ་བསོད་ནམས་ཆེ།།
    TIBET ALWAYS WAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE TIBET!

  3. When it comes to priorities in New Delhi, one suspects that Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are of higher ranking than the land of the snow lion. What about Sikkim’s distinct identity?

    Doklam is a flash point. Just like the Donbas in Ukraine. How easy is it for a Tibetan to have any sort of impact in the Politburo in Beijing? If the international community does not engage, the best way to bring about change is from within. Leadership in today’s world is rather messy and very few people seem to have the gravitas to lead their people. If Barack Obama can be elected President, perhaps the goal is to have a Tibetan replace Xi Jinping–there are many under-served ethnic groups all over China. That would really be putting Panda Diplomacy on the map.

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