Last week, Maria Otero, the U.S. special co-ordinator for Tibetan issues, said in a statement that tough Chinese policies in Tibetan areas had exacerbated tensions, including the immolations.

"Chinese authorities have responded to these tragic incidents with measures that tighten already strict controls on freedoms of religion, expression, assembly and association of Tibetans," she said.

The statement provoked a harsh reaction from Beijing.

The arrests also follow the release of a legal document last week that appears to stipulate that anyone caught helping someone self-immolate should be held liable for intentional homicide.

"Organizing, plotting, inciting, coercing, enticing, abetting, or assisting others to carry out self-immolations is, at its essence, a serious criminal act that intentionally deprives another of his or her life," the Gannan Daily newspaper said in a commentary on December 3, according to a translation by the Dui Hua foundation.

Beijing says Tibet has been a part of China since the 13th century and regards the Dalai Lama as a terrorist.

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising, has long denied China's assertion that he's seeking Tibetan independence.

He says he wants only an autonomy that would offer protection for their traditional Buddhist culture.