Tensions were high in a flashpoint town of southwest China Saturday after a Tibetan monk set himself on fire in protest against Chinese rule, activist groups and residents said.

Chinese police have discovered explosives under a bridge in restive Tibet, sources said on Tuesday, as ethnic Tibetan villages high in the grasslands of western China faced a tense traditional New Year.

The Dalai Lama warned Wednesday of a fresh uprising in Tibet in the “very tense” run-up to the 50th anniversary of the failed rebellion against Chinese rule that prompted his flight into exile.

China has sentenced 76 people and detained more than 950 since last year's deadly anti-government riots in Tibet, state media said Wednesday.

The Dalai Lama on Monday became an honorary citizen of Rome as the city pledged its support for the Tibetan spiritual leader's non violent struggle for the Chinese-ruled province's autonomy.

The Dalai Lama was released from a hospital in India's capital after doctors determined that minor pain in his arms was caused by a pinched nerve, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Chinese authorities carrying out a “strike hard” campaign in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa have raided thousands of homes and businesses, run checks on 5,766 suspects and detained at least 81 people, including two for having reactionary music on their cellphones, according to official reports and news accounts.

Chinese-backed Tibetan leaders will soon set a date for what they call “Serf Liberation Day” to mark the defeat 50 years ago of a pro-independence uprising in the Himalayan region, state media reported Sunday.

One hundred and nine Tibetan persons who have been staying in Taiwan without legal status were granted temporary alien resident certificates (ARC) yesterday.

Fire broke out on Thursday at a hotel near Tibet’s holiest Buddhist temple in the capital, Lhasa, Chinese state media reported.