Tibet

Where is Tibet? It can be difficult to locate even in a bookshop. Uncertain or nervous booksellers rarely seem to know what to do with books on Tibet. Some stick them straight onto the 'China' shelf. Some, aware that this is an unpopular strategy among many outside China, find a corner somewhere in 'Asia, General'. Others transcend the whole geographical issue by putting their books on Tibet on the "Buddhism" shelves, allowing Tibet to float entirely free of complicated questions of politics and place. And there's a certain university library in London where it has become customary to deface the sign on the shelves containing books on Tibet: 'China' is scratched and 'Tibet' written under it; then somebody else comes and scratches out 'Tibet' and writes 'China' again. And so on. The plight of these books is indicative of the confusion surrounding the status of Tibet itself.

(Sam Van Schaik, "TIBET, A History")