Tibet or Xizang? Real Madrid’s condolences for mudslide victims anger China

Real Madrid intended to show solidarity with victims of floods and mudslides along the Nepal-China border. Instead, its wording sparked a backlash in China.

Before the club’s La Liga match against Malaga on Aug. 30, players at the Santiago Bernabeu observed a minute of silence. Real Madrid later posted a photograph on X with the caption: “Moment of silence at the Bernabéu for the victims of the flood in Nepal and Tibet.” The final three words quickly became the focus of the controversy.

China’s Global Times and China Daily criticized the club, with China Daily saying Real Madrid had “scored an own goal”. Fans on Weibo demanded an immediate correction and apology, pushing the dispute onto the platform’s sports hot-search list. The club’s post appeared to have been removed.

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Moment of silence at the Bernabéu for the victims of the flood in Nepal and Tibet.

Critics objected first to placing Nepal and Tibet in the same formulation. Other Spanish clubs described the disaster as affecting “Nepal and China”. China Daily compared the wording with references to “Portugal and Catalonia” or “France and the Basque Country”, asking whether Spaniards would accept those places being presented as equivalent entities.

The second objection concerned the name itself. Chinese commentators said the territory should not be called Tibet, but Xizang, or “China’s Xizang”. China has increasingly used the pinyin name in English-language official documents since 2023. A 2023 State Council white paper referred to “Xizang”, while a similar paper issued two years earlier used Tibet. Wang Zhengxu, a Zhejiang University political science professor, told The Straits Times that the international use of “Tibet” was popularized during the colonial era by the British, who ruled neighboring India and had imperial ambitions in the region.

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scored an own goal