From Straits Times (AFP)

TOKYO – JAPAN-BASED supporters of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Monday protested against an exhibition in Tokyo on their Himalayan homeland, in which they say China misrepresents their history.

The exhibit called ‘Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World’ is being held in the Ueno Royal Museum, with China’s embassy and China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage among the official supporters.

‘The world shouldn’t be deceived by this Chinese propagandist exhibition,’ Lhakpa Tshoko, head of the liaison office of the Dalai Lama in Japan and East Asia, said in a statement.

‘The exhibits and the documents at the exhibition are purposely designed to mislead the Japanese public into believing the Chinese government is the benevolent guardian of Tibetan culture,’ he said.

He added that ‘in fact, the opposite is the truth’.

Other organisers and backers of the exhibit include the Japanese daily the Asahi Shimbun, the television network Tokyo Broadcasting System and Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs.

‘If the organisers believe that this exhibition is being done for the Tibetans, then the real historical background of Tibet and reason behind the flight of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the Tibet issue … should be properly displayed and addressed,’ Lhakpa Tshoko said.

The organisers could not immediately be reached for comment. — AFP