Taipei: Dozens of Tibetans and their
Taiwanese supporters protested against China on Sunday, accusing
Beijing of using an exhibition of "looted" Tibetan artifacts
as political propaganda.
More than 130 Tibetan cultural relics from monasteries
and museums on loan from China have been on display at
Taipei's National Palace Museum since July 1.
The exhibition, called "Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of
the World," is a sign of warming ties between Beijing and
Taipei but has angered Tibetans.
"This exhibition has helped the Chinese authorities cover
up the their massive killings in their invasion of Tibet,
during which at least 1.2 million Tibetans have been
slaughtered," Tashi Tsering, head of the regional Tibetan
Youth Congress, told AFP.
"We regret that the brutality is not shown in the
exhibit," he said after police barred the demonstrators from
entering the museum.
The protesters demanded that a portrait of exiled Tibetan
spiritual leader the Dalai Lama also be included in the
exhibition but their call was rejected.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in northern India since
fleeing Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese
rule.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, August 15, 2010, 20:27