Bhutan became the latest nation to refer to Tibet as “Xizang,” prompting Tibetan politicians and advocates to urge Bhutan to stop using the term promoted by Beijing that they say contributes to China’s efforts to erase Tibetan identity. In a March 17 statement, Bhutan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade used the term “Xizang” to refer to the Tibet Autonomous Region, a Chinese government-designed administrative region that makes up only part of the larger region that Tibetans refer to as “Greater Tibet.”
Bhutan’s statement — which pertained to a two-day cultural performance by Tibetan artists on March 18-19 at the Royal Institute of Management in Bhutan’s capital Thimphu — also referred to the Tibetan performers as a “Chinese cultural troupe” and the performance itself as a “Chinese cultural performance.”