Pro-Tibet protest in Beijing

Around 50 people had gathered in a silent protest outside a building in the Chinese Minorities University in the Haidian district of western Beijing overnight, said the witness, who did not want to be named.

The witness said there was a police presence and that some candles had been lit, but there were no clashes.

Kate Saunders, from the International Campaign for Tibet, said witnesses had told them about the demonstration.

"The university has a large number of Tibetans studying there," she said from London.

Violent protests broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Saturday, the most serious protests in the region for 20 years.

The protests have spread across the western part of China in recent days, among large Tibetan communities.