HONG KONG, June 25 (AFP) - A pro-Tibet group lashed out Wednesday at a gala show celebrating the Hong Kong handover featuring costumes from Tibet and another Chinese region where activists are demanding self-rule.

The Association for Celebration of Reunification of Hong Kong with China on Wednesday was to hold a dress rehearsal for the July 1 extravaganza, inviting the world's press to view a "fashion show with national characteristics," including top models wearing costumes from "Chinese minorities."

They include costumes from Tibet and Xinjiang, a region where Moslem Uighurs have launched a sometimes-violent campaign for independence from Beijing.

"Tibet is an occupied country," said Alison Reynolds of the group Free Tibet, who is in Hong Kong for the handover.

"China is using this very patriotic time of the Hong Kong handback to put out messages about Chinese unity, when it is cracking down on 'splittist' activities in Tibet," Reynolds told AFP.

The show was "wholly inappropriate" because it sent the wrong message that the Tibetan minorities were happy under Chinese rule, she said. "That's not our experience," she said.

Organisers of the show said the celebration had no political overtones and was simply intended for entertainment.

"It's a song and dance show. We are not using these for political ends," said Christine Chie, the association's publicity officer.

"They (the costumes) are being used for entertainment. It's just a show. We have no connections with the political issue. We don't care about what is happening in Tibet or Xinjiang," Chie told AFP.