China warns officials to be on highest guard over Tibet protests International Tibet rights groups fear the order sanctions a magnified repeat of the armed response by paramilitary police during three separate incidents in Sichuan province last month that allegedly left seven Tibetans dead and scores injured. Foreign journalists have been banned from entering the region to confirm the reports of fatal shootings, with many detained for long periods. It has also been claimed internet services and other communications have been cut in volatile areas. However, Chinese reporters have been granted access to the region and the state-media on Monday partly blamed youth unemployment on the unrest, though maintained - via its rhetorical blaming - that the exiled Dalai Lama and "western forces" were inciting the recent violence and are trying to split the "motherland." "The majority of the crowds are young people who do not have jobs," said ethnic Tibetan Seda county director Mr Palden, who like most Tibetans, uses only one name. "So the priority is to improve life quality in Seda county and provide enough job opportunities for young people," he told the China Daily News Paper. 16 Tibetans have set fire to themselves since last March, most young monks affiliated to the restive Kirti monastery in Aba County, Sichuan province, which boarders Tibet. Many Tibetans complain the Communist-run government rules harshly through religious repression and enacts a cultural genocide policy by encouraging influxes of Han Chinese settlers - the country's dominant ethnic group - into their communities. However, Beijing refutes it is trying to dilute Tibetan culture and regularly highlights improved living conditions. Over the weekend, US Senator John McCain warned China's Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun that "the Arab Spring is coming to China" and highlighted the number of Tibetans burning themselves to death, according to reports.