The Tibetan government-in-exile plans to release a map of Tibet founded on historical records, featuring original boundaries and place names, in response to China's "cartographic aggression" and its practice of renaming locations to assert claims over disputed territories.

Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) based in Dharamshala, announced that the CTA will utilise various research studies by experts on Tibet and ancient maps to create a new map. This map will be made available online for Tibetans and academics globally.

“We are doing this so that Tibetans living around the world get to know the real history of their country, and so that the memories of the Tibetans living inside Tibet don’t fade away in the face of China’s cartographic aggression,” Tsering told HT.

“This is the overall Chinese strategy, it’s nothing new. Renaming [of places] has happened before with Tibet. They did it last year too. If you look at the overall Chinese strategy, they use only Chinese names for [territories they claim, such as] Senkaku islands of Japan, or islands near Taiwan or Spratly Islands in the South China Sea,” said Tsering, who like most of the current Tibetan leadership in exile was born in India and has never been to Tibet.

“The Chinese have their own names for islands they claim, not the names coined by other countries. They have also done something similar in Arunachal Pradesh. Within China, they are trying to erase the historical background of these names.”

Tsering stated that the CTA will collaborate with a Tibetan cartographer based at Stanford to develop a searchable map of Tibet, with the project expected to be completed within six months to a year.

 “We will then make it available online for everyone, otherwise there is no reason to have this map. It will provide a complete picture of Tibet,” he said.

Another project taken up by the CTA is developing a search engine with Tibetan names of places. “Now, if I go to Google, I can’t recognise names or places inside Tibet. We’re going to do research on names of every place inside Tibet, and their Tibetan origins,” Tsering said.

According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, Chinese authorities have forcibly relocated 500 villages, displacing over 140,000 residents in the Tibet Autonomous Region since 2016. They have also renamed numerous places across the ancient kingdom of Tibet.

In addition to renaming Tibet as Xizang and establishing the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in 1965, Chinese authorities have incorporated several regions of the ancient kingdom of Tibet into Chinese provinces. For example, Tibetan officials noted that the region of Amdo is now part of Qinghai province, the Kham region was included in Sichuan province, and some other areas were integrated into Yunnan province.

The map being developed by the CTA will address these historical issues. Tsering expressed his belief that other countries facing similar problems with China should also push back.

“Countries with disputes in the South China Sea and in the case of the Senkaku Islands – everyone should push back against their designs. Because these designs amplify China’s hegemonistic ambitions despite their denials,” he said.

China refers to the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as "Zangnan" and claims the strategic region as part of South Tibet. In recent years, China has renamed dozens of towns and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh to assert its claim on the region. The Indian government has dismissed such moves, stating that the state will always remain a part of India.

Referring to the Resolve Tibet Act, signed by US President Joe Biden on 12th July, which aims to pressure China for a negotiated settlement regarding Tibet’s demand for greater autonomy, Tsering said, "The main issue is that we were trying to push against China’s disinformation on Tibetan history. [The Act] says the US doesn’t recognise China’s assertion that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times.”

Image source: AP