UN Experts Condemn French Museums for Erasing “Tibet” Name Under Chinese Pressure
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 30 Sept: UN experts have raised serious concerns over the erasure of the name “Tibet” in French museums, declaring that such actions contribute to the sinicisation of Tibetan heritage by the Chinese government and undermine the rights of the Tibetan people.
In a letter addressed to the French government on 31 July—now made public—the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, has expressed alarm over alleged collaboration between Chinese authorities and prominent French institutions, including the Musée Guimet and the Musée du Quai Branly, to replace the name “Tibet” with sinicised terms like “Xizang” and “Himalayan world”.
Xanthaki emphasised that this shift risks undermining the cultural rights of Tibetans and their right to self-determination.
“I am deeply concerned that the removal of the Tibetan-preferred terminology in favour of denominations that are more acceptable to the Chinese authorities undermines the Tibetan rights to enjoy cultural heritage and to self- determination, through the presentation of a mistaken representation of their history, territory and cultural heritage. I am also concerned about the fact that the denomination changes seem to serve the sinicisation policy of Tibetan heritage as implemented by the Chinese authorities”, Xanthaki stated in the letter.
The UN’s intervention has been welcomed by Tibetan advocacy groups in France and around the world. On 29 September, a coalition of French-based Tibet support organisations and 145 international Tibetan advocacy groups issued a joint statement urging immediate action from the Musée Guimet, the French government, and UNESCO to uphold their responsibilities to protect Tibetan cultural heritage.
This development follows months of intense campaigning by Tibetan groups and scholars. The movement gained momentum in August 2024, when a collective of 20 academics and researchers published an open letter in Le Monde, criticising French museums for yielding to Chinese pressure and engaging in historical revisionism.
As a result of this advocacy, the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and the British Museum in London have reversed their decisions and reinstated the use of “Tibet” in their exhibits.
However, the Musée Guimet has continued to use the reductionist term “Himalayan world”, prompting legal action by Tibetan support groups, while a letter of concern has been sent to UNESCO regarding a public exhibition outside its headquarters in Paris that also uses the sinicised term “Xizang”.
Critics point out that these nomenclature changes coincided with France’s 2024 celebration of 60 years of diplomatic relations with China—an event they argue marked a shift toward accommodating Chinese state narratives. Notably, China officially began promoting the term “Xizang” in international discourse in 2023.
The Musée Guimet, which dedicated the year 2024 to China as part of the Franco-Chinese Year of Cultural Tourism, reopened its Nepal-Tibet gallery under the new name “Himalayan World.” Museum officials claimed the change stemmed from a scientific rethinking of their collections by cultural regions.
However, experts in the field have criticised this justification, arguing that “Himalayan World” is a vague and imprecise geographical label. The term encompasses diverse regions across Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Tibet, making it unsuitable for accurately representing Tibetan culture. Furthermore, they note that only about a quarter of historical Tibet lies within the Himalayan range, making the label misleading.
