Chinese academics call for renaming Tibet as Xizang for ‘reconstructing’ image

Chinese academics have called for renaming Tibet to Xizang in order to refer to the autonomous region in English to help "reconstruct" its image, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

The region is widely recognised as Tibet worldwide and the name is used in media reports globally as well. Though changing the narrative could be challenging for China, the appeal came during an official conference on Tibet held in Beijing from Monday to Wednesday. The details of the conference were mentioned in a WeChat account managed by the United Front Work Department (UFWD), the SCMP report added.

UFWD is an agency in charge of overseeing matters pertaining to ethnic and minority groups. It is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with "united front work".

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As quoted, Wang Linping, who is a professor at Harbin Engineering University's College of Marxism, said: "To establish China's dominant position in the international discourse related to Tibet, there is an urgent need for an English translation of 'Tibet' that can accurately describe China's position."

According to him, the use of the name Tibet had "seriously misled the international community" over the "geographical scope" of the region. Wang also suggested using the name Xizang for Tibet.

The research stated that "Tibet" is used outside of China to refer to regions in the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan as well as Tibet.

The report said, "This overlaps greatly with the so-called Greater Tibet long advocated by the 14th Dalai Lama."

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India's stance on Tibet

As quoted by local media reports, former Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane (retd) said on Wednesday (August 16) that Tibetans from all over the world have a right to return to the land of their forefathers. Naravane said that the Tibetans must experience their culture and traditions.

He said, "Over the decades, China has fully occupied Tibet and made territorial and administrative changes that would transform the identity and culture of Tibetans."

Gen. Naravane continued by claiming that the most recent white paper issued by China asserts that Tibet has been a part of China from antiquity, or from the 7th century AD onwards, which is "incorrect and an attempt to rewrite history".

(With inputs from agencies)

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