NEW DELHI, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Thousands of Tibetan refugees Friday demonstrated in the northern Indian city of Shimla to protest China's observance of the 30th anniversary of the annexation of Tibet, the Press Trust of India reported.

The Tibetan Youth Congress issued a statement accusing Beijing of "amputating" Tibet to prevent the region from regaining its independence.

Following the forcible occupation of Tibet, China incorporated two- thirds of the region into the neighboring Chinese provinces of Gansu, Szechuan and Yuman and turned the rest of the region into the so-called "Tibetan Autonomous Region," the statement said.

A similar protest was held in the Indian capital of New Delhi.

Tibet won independence from China in 1911, but was reoccupied by Beijing's People's Liberation Army in 1951.

Tibet's spiritual and political leader, the Dalai Lama, and 100,000 of his followers fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Since then, the Dalai Lama has led a Tibetan government-in-exile from the northern Indian city of Dharamsala.