KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepalese police said they had detained about 200 Tibetan exiles Friday who were protesting outside the Chinese embassy in the capital Kathmandu.

Protesters waved flags signifying the Tibetan government-in-exile and shouted "We want a free Tibet!", "Shame, shame China!" and other slogans, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

"We have held 200 Tibetan protesters," police officer Ramesh Thapa told AFP, adding that they would be released later Friday.

Some 100 police and several police vans surrounded the Chinese embassy and bundled the protesters into the waiting vehicles soon after they had arrived in the area.

"I will continue to protest unless China frees Tibet!" shouted 24-year-old protester Nawang as half a dozen police officers dragged him away.

There have been frequent protests in Kathmandu since unrest erupted in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March, prompting a crackdown by Chinese security forces.

Officials in Nepal, which is home to about 20,000 exiled Tibetans, have repeatedly said that no anti-China activity will be allowed as they bid to preserve friendly ties with their giant northern neighbour.

China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending troops in to "liberate" the remote Himalayan region.

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