TAIPEI: Dozens of Tibetans and their Taiwanese supporters protested against China 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 protestors 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.

China says it has developed the economy in the Himalayan region and improved living conditions for Tibetans but critics accuse Beijing of suppressing Tibetan Buddhist culture.

BDST: 1525 HRS, August 15, 2010