The Chinese government doesn’t want people to use the word “Tibet” because it doesn’t want anyone to remember the Tibet that used to be, before it got invaded by the People’s Republic of China and converted into an “autonomous” region. So for the past few years, China has been changing the name “Tibet” to “Xizang.”
Adoption of the new name, even by official Chinese state agencies, has been slow-going. But the government’s efforts to kill “Tibet” may be gaining traction if a new edict issued by the giant e-commerce company Weidian is any indication. In obedience to Beijing, Weidian has told merchants who use its platform to replace “Tibet” with “Xizang” in product names and descriptions if they doesn’t want to lose those product listings (South China Morning Post, October 15, 2023).
The announcement cited a foreign ministry English readout of an address by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a regional forum in Tibet on October 5, which used “Xizang” as the official translation for Tibet.
Internationally, the autonomous region is known as Tibet. The announcement by the e-commerce platform echoed earlier calls by Chinese academics and state administrations to ditch the term “Tibet” to help give Beijing an edge in the global discourse about the region.
Tens of millions of merchants sell stuff through Weidian.
