Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Sept. 30: The UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights on Monday voiced concerns over the erasure of the term “Tibet” from French museum exhibits, warning that the adoption of Chinese-approved labels, such as “Xizang” and “Himalayan World,” is violating Tibetans’ rights to self-determination and cultural heritage.
The rapporteur emphasized that the changes observed at the Musée du quai Branly and the Musée Guimet align closely with the Chinese government’s political agenda. In 2023, the People’s Republic of China, through its State Council Information Office, issued several white papers replacing the term “Tibet” with “Xizang,” including the most recent publication titled “CCP Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements.”
The controversy intensified in September 2024 when a group of prominent scholars, largely sinologists and Tibetologists, criticized the museums for yielding to Chinese pressure to rewrite and distort Tibet’s history and cultural identity. This sparked multiple protests and the circulation of appeal letters addressed to museum directors and French officials. In response to mounting opposition from Tibetans and their supporters in France, the Musée du quai Branly reinstated the term “Tibet” in its catalogue and exhibition labels for Tibetan artefacts.
By contrast, Yannick Lintz, director of the Musée Guimet, declined to rename its exhibition “Himalayan World” as “Tibet.” The UN has since called on the French government to provide clarity, specifically questioning whether China played a role in influencing the naming of Tibetan works.
Tibetans, along with the France chapter of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), have been holding weekly sit-ins outside the Musée Guimet, most recently on Sunday, while also leading year-long social media campaigns. A coalition of four Tibetan advocacy groups— SFT France, France Tibet, Association Lions des Neiges Mont-Blanc, and the Tibetan Community of France— has filed a legal complaint against Yannick Lintz, President of the Musée Guimet, as well as Culture Minister Rachida Dati and Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
“For Tibetans, losing our name in a space dedicated to culture and heritage is another form of violence. It makes us invisible in the very place where our identity should be most protected,” said Tenzin Yangchen, President of SFT France. “From the streets of Paris to the United Nations, our voices have made one thing clear: this generation will not allow Tibet to be erased.”
Similar criticism surfaced in London earlier this year, when the British Museum came under fire for labeling exhibits with “Xizang Autonomous Region” instead of Tibet. Tibetan activists argued that adopting Beijing’s official terminology contributes to the global erasure of Tibetan identity. In February 2025, following weeks of sustained pressure, the British Museum revised its terminology to the so-called “Tibet Autonomous Region.” However, critics maintain that this label still reflects China’s official narrative and fails to recognize Tibet’s broader historical and geographical identity
One Response
I can’t thank enough the Tibetan Associations for their concerted effort to protest the ERASURE OF TIBET from the contents of the musee Guimet. I am especially thankful to the Students for a Free Tibet members let by Tenzin Yangchen for their relentless effort to protest the recalcitrant French museum’s director Yankick Lintz. There is no doubt this gentleman is a stooge of the Chinese communist party who is well paid personally and to the museum to do the CCP’s bidding! What is happening around the world is, the CCP is throwing money to buy influence. Be it to steal Taiwan’s diplomatic partners or the getting influence around the world, it buys it by throwing money! Nobody does it willingly since the CCP has nothing that would endear them to it. Why did the Gen-Z burn the houses of Nepali politicians including PM KP Sharma Oli? They were angry that the CCP bribed them for years to do their bidding while the ordinary Nepalis were left high and dry! The CCP buys off the powerful and let them do their bidding. Oli turned his back on India and went to bed with Xi the Chinese dictator! Hr even went as far as introducing so called Xi Jinping thought to young Nepalese people! What irked the young Nepalis was the brazen corruption the CCP injected into the Nepali political system that made ordinary Nepalese resentful. The political elite was enjoying the luxury that was afforded by Chinese money while the Nepali citizens had no prospect of ever getting out of the grinding poverty! Mr Yannick Lintz of the French museum and his colleagues have been heavily bribed. Often, the CCP uses honey traps. They sent beautiful young Chinese woman as journalists, interpreters and assistants to lure lustful men to their honey traps and then blackmail them by threatening them to expose them! Mr Yannick Lintz could well be one of those who may have been honey trapped by the CCP and cannot afford to do the right thing for fear of exposing himself in front of the world!