Unfortunately, the Chinese government so far has resorted to the same old hardline policies. In fact, they passed a law criminalizing self-immolation, and with that law, they are punishing not just the self-immolators, but their family members and friends. Even those Tibetans who witness self-immolation, and who try to rescue the bodies of self-immolators, have been met with long-term imprisonment, up to 12 years. It's unfortunate that not only are they resorting to the blame game, but now they're criminalizing it. The courts are prosecuting not just the self-immolators but the family members and their friends, and even the witnesses who might want as a human gesture to rescue the body so that person can have a decent funeral. It's really sad that they have resorted to more hardline policies, rather than finding a peaceful, more reform-oriented policy to solve the issue of Tibet.
I would just like to add that if you look at the genesis of self-immolation, you might get an indication as to why Tibetans are resorting to such tragic acts. From 1987 to 1989, there was a series of protests in and around Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. Sporadic protests happen on a regular basis everywhere in Tibet. Most of the protesters were arrested. If you shout “human rights” in the streets of Tibet, you get arrested, you go to prison, you are often tortured, and sometimes you disappear.
If you are caught with a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, that's illegal. You're not supposed to have a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; rather, you are supposed to insult the picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. You will be in deep trouble.
In 2006-2008, there was a series of protests, but most importantly in 2008, in a hundred different counties and all over Tibet, there were major uprisings and protests. The Chinese government again clamped down and arrested hundreds and thousands, put many of them behind bars; many were tortured and suffered for a long, long time. If you look at the genesis of protests and protestors, it seems Tibetans inside Tibet have concluded that if you are a protestor and you are caught...given the likelihood of being in prison for a long time and being tortured, given that the suffering will be enormous and it will last so long, it's better—and it's a sad conclusion—to self-immolate, because the chances of you not falling into the hands of Chinese authorities are higher. This is a fact, because some of the self-immolators have left their last wishes and a message with their friends, clearly saying, “I'm going to self-immolate, so make sure I don't fall into the hands of Chinese authorities.” Their fear of falling into the hands of Chinese authorities is so high, it's so scary, that they feel if they self-immolate they have to die.
If you look at the genesis of protests and the protestors, you understand why Tibetans are resorting to self-immolation, which is a tragic form of protest inside Tibet.