24 MARCH 1990, Page 24

Chinese onomastics

Sir: Chinese cartographers (Letters, 10 February) may have fallen into unwitting self-parody by changing 'es to Ts and conveniently forgetting Tibetan place- names, but Adrian Moon misses a more striking revelation in this form of prop- aganda.

As the Chinese continue to plunder the mountains of Tibet for precious minerals and timber, it is not surprising to learn that the Chinese word for Tibet (Xizang) means, literally, the Western Treasure House.

This says as much about China's attitude to its neighbour as their own name (Zhung- guo guo — the Central Kingdom of the World) says about their attitude to the rest of the world.

Luke Hughes

8 Stukeley Street, London WC2