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ChinaPolitics

Chinese state media drops ‘Tibet’ for ‘Xizang’ after release of Beijing white paper

  • Use of the name ‘Xizang’ when referring to the Tibet autonomous region has risen dramatically in English articles by China’s official media
  • It comes after the State Council releases a white paper on November 10 which replaced ‘Tibet’ for pinyin term ‘Xizang’ in most instances

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The Tibet autonomous region is increasingly being referred to as ‘Xizang’ by Chinese state media following the term being used in a State Council white paper in November. Photo: Getty Images
Yuanyue Dangin Beijing
China’s official media has dramatically increased its use of the term “Xizang”, rather than “Tibet”, when referring to the autonomous region in western China in English articles, after a white paper on Tibet was released by China’s cabinet, the State Council, in early November.

The white paper, titled “CPC Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements”, outlines developments in Tibet since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.

It is the latest in a series of white papers on Tibet issued by the State Council Information Office, usually designed to showcase Tibet’s economic, livelihood and cultural development under Communist Party leadership. But it was the first in the series to use “Xizang” as the English translation for the Tibet autonomous region.
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“Xizang” is the pinyin, or Chinese romanisation, of the Mandarin script for “Tibet”.

Since the release of the November white paper, “Xizang” has largely replaced “Tibet” in several official Chinese media reports, with “Tibet” now used only in a few scenarios, including translations of already established geographical terms and names of institutions.

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Between November 10, the date of the white paper’s release, and Friday, the English-language website of state news agency Xinhua used “Xizang” in 128 articles, while only five used “Tibet”, all of which were in reference to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the geographic term covering most of the Tibet autonomous region.
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