At least two people are believed to have died in violent protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
China has accused Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of acting as the 'mastermind' behind protests that have rocked the region.
But a spokesman for the Dalai Lama has dismissed the allegations that he is behind the unrest as 'absolutely baseless'.
Protestors have burned shops and vehicles while calling for independence, during the biggest protests in two decades.
The Dalai Lama has warned Beijing against using 'brute force'.
Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over past days have given way to angry crowds of hundreds who confronted anti-riot police in the remote region, testing China's grip on control just as it readies for the Olympic Games.
The protestors who gathered around a market near the Jokhang temple early today were confronted by about 1,000 police, according to one witness.
Four police were injured in the contention that followed, and another protest broke out near the Potala Palace.
An ethnic Tibetan resident said there were 'protests everywhere' accompanied by shouts for independence from China.
'These protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people under the present governance,' the Dalai Lama said in a statement.
'I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people.'
The US and EU have urged China to show restraint, and the US pressed China to engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing condemns as a 'separatist'.
As Beijing prepares to host the Olympics in August, the protests present hard choices for President Hu Jintao, who was Communist Party boss in the region in 1989 when China imposed martial law there to quell anti-Chinese protest.
