As China orchestrates a grand celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), it unveils not just a commemorative logo, but a calculated narrative shift—insisting on the term “Xizang” in all official communications. This is no benign rebranding. It is an Orwellian erasure, a political maneuver to overwrite centuries of Tibetan identity with a Sinicized label.
The new logo, revealed on May 23, 2025, fuses the number “60” with motifs like the Chinese national flag, Gesang flower, and symbols of “progress” such as the Fuxing high-speed train and wind turbines. The imagery screams development, but beneath the polished facade lies a brutal truth: the systematic erasure of Tibetan culture and autonomy.
The term “Xizang”, originally a Qing dynasty classification for western Tibet, is being aggressively promoted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to replace the globally recognized “Tibet.” In a striking display of linguistic colonization, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in 2023 that foreign entities and media must begin using “Xizang” in alignment with Chinese terminology. Spokesperson Mao Ning declared, “Using Xizang reflects respect for China’s sovereignty.”
But sovereignty built on occupation is no sovereignty at all.
This policy coincides with deepening repression on the ground. Since 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled into exile after a failed uprising crushed by Chinese forces, Tibet has remained under a suffocating military presence. The anniversary being celebrated is not one of liberation, but of subjugation. The “democratic reforms” the CCP lauds are remembered by Tibetans as decades of cultural genocide, forced collectivization, and mass imprisonments.
In March 2024, during China’s annual “Two Sessions” political meetings, officials from the TAR showcased new propaganda strategies—among them, the directive to replace “Tibet” with “Xizang” in international diplomacy. Soon after, Weibo and Douyin accounts promoting Tibetan language and culture began disappearing, and in November 2024, social media influencer Gong Lajja (Tashi Nyima) was arrested for promoting “separatist ideology.” His crime? Singing songs in Tibetan and teaching children their native alphabet.
This is the context in which “Xizang” is pushed against the backdrop of forced boarding schools, language suppression, and the destruction of Tibetan Buddhist institutions like Atsok Monastery, razed in August 2024 under the guise of dam construction.
Critics worldwide see this linguistic engineering as part of a broader playbook of imperial control. Dr. Gyal Lo, Tibetan education sociologist in exile, has called it “a campaign of identity theft”, noting that renaming Tibet is akin to erasing it. “What is at stake is not just a name, but our entire historical memory,” he told the Tibet Action Institute.
The CCP’s use of the term “Xizang” in global events such as at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) in November 2024, where Tibetan narratives were replaced with CCP-sponsored films glorifying “Xizang’s integration” into China—has provoked outrage from Tibetan filmmakers and exiled leaders. Many see it as part of Beijing’s “wolf warrior diplomacy” now wielded not only through embassies, but through culture and language.
To call this a soft power strategy would be a mistake. It is a hard imposition, masked in silk.
The world must not be complicit. Using “Tibet” is not just a lexical choice, it is an act of resistance. On this 60th anniversary of colonized celebration, we must speak clearly:
Tibet is not “Xizang.” Tibet is Tibet. No ribboned logo can cover the iron fist behind the veil.
