People's Liberation Army troops marched into Tibet in 1950 in in order, China says, to emancipate one million Tibetan serfs and end a theocracy in which the Dalai Lama was both god and king.

"The human rights of more than 95 per cent of Tibetans have never been better than today," Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government and fluent Mandarin speaker, told a news conference in Beijing.

"The Dalai clique is the least qualified to talk about the issue of Tibetans' human rights," said the official, referring to former Tibetan serf owners, many of whom live in exile.

Qiangba Puncog is the child of destitute vegetable farmers and rose to become the most senior Tibetan in government. He is, however, outranked by Tibet's Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli.

Critics say China's human rights record is abysmal, jailing and torturing many Tibetan political prisoners, including Buddhist monks and nuns. China denies the accusation.

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against what China says were 'democratic reforms' to end centuries of serfdom.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his advocacy of non-violence and travels the globe rubbing shoulders with US President George W Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders as well as Hollywood actors.

But his government-in-exile in Dharamsala in India is not recognised by any country.

Sita, a Chinese Communist Party vice-minister responsible for co-opting ethnic minorities and non-Communists, likened serfs to livestock and currency under the Dalai Lama's rule.

"I read an archived letter by a Tibetan nobleman to another nobleman. It read something like this: 'We gambled the other day and I lost three serfs, seven horses and 20 gold coins to you. I'm sending them over today'," Sita, the son of a former serf, said, also speaking in impeccable Mandarin Chinese.

Sita, who only has one name, defended a government crackdown in the aftermath of the unrest. Police have detained 953 people.

"The measures we are now taking are not targeted against religion, not against temples, but against separatists who were involved in the riots," he said.

A total of 362 people voluntarily surrendered to police, of whom 328 have been released, China says.

Qiangba Puncog also accused the Dalai Lama of lying and fanning the flames of ethnic hatred.

Anti-Chinese activists have been circulating a picture showing Chinese troops clutching monks' robes, accusing Beijing of staging the riots by having soldiers dress up as monks. But Qiangba Puncog said the picture was taken seven years ago and the soldiers were extras in a drama production.

In the face of rising Chinese nationalism, he said the rioters were only 'an extremely tiny minority' of Tibetans and the monks who took part in protests were also 'an extremely tiny minority' of the Buddhist clergy.