A young Tibetan monk set himself on fire in southwest China, rights groups said Tuesday, the fifth reported case this year in what activists and experts say is a “rare” and “worrying” trend.

China has jailed three Tibetan monks for between 10 and 13 years for helping a fellow monk to burn himself to death, raising criticism from the United States and rights groups.

The hardline Chinese official removed last week as Communist Party chief of restive Tibet has been made head of the province in the center of contention over China's Catholics, giving him an influential role in another sensitive religious issue.

China on Thursday replaced Tibet's hard-line Communist Party boss under whom bloody rioting broke out in the Himalayan region three years ago.

A Tibetan spiritual leader installed by China's communist government against the Dalai Lama's wishes has finished a trip to a major Buddhist monastery with comments unlikely to endear him to an already skeptical Tibetan public.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping vowed on Tuesday to crack down on separatist forces he said were led by the Dalai Lama, suggesting that China's heir apparent to the presidency will not ease Beijing's hardline stance towards the region.

Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has insisted that he will guide the choice of his successor, saying China's plans to control the selection of the Buddhist leader were “ridiculous.”

In a lifetime spent advocating the plight of his Tibetan community, promoting inter-religious harmony and pleading for world peace, the Dalai Lama now faces perhaps his greatest challenge: trying to truly retire from politics.

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake rocked a largely Tibetan region in northwest China on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, more than a year after a 7.1 magnitude tremor killed 2,700 people in the same area.

Foreign tourists will be barred from going to Tibet until the end of July, travel agents said Monday, the second time this year the troubled region has been closed to overseas visitors.