The Chinese authorities said they found fire arms inside a Tibetan temple and five air passengers (possibly Tibetans) were put under arrest for making some "suspicious remarks" which prompted the return of their flight half an hour after take-off from the southern city of Shenzhen.

The Chinese police have allegedly received a tip about the hidden guns from the public. After searching the Geerdeng temple of the monastery in Aba prefecture of Sichuan province they found 30 firearms, according to the Chinese state television.

Some “modified semi-automatic weapons” were found at a place where monks usually keep the scriptures, said policeman Lan Bo for the television channel.

The Aba monastery, as well as the surounding region, has seen clashes between police and Tibetan protesters, who are militating for an independent Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, from exile.

According to The Southern Metropolis Daily, the Chinese police arrested five passengers who made suspicious remarks and caused the flight to return shortly after take-off in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen en route to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.

People's Daily newspaper wrote that the Western media had a big role in causing the worldwide protests against the Olympic torch relay. The Chinese media also accused the European Parliament for not expressing disapproval of the "Dalai clique".

The Chinese government stated that the Buddhist leader is behind the protests which started in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, in which 19 people were killed.

"People cannot help but ask: the European Parliament always brags about human rights and freedom, so why does it turn a deaf ear to the serious human rights abuse of attacks on and killings of innocent people in Tibet?" the newspaper wrote.

The security of China’s airways was swiftly increased in the eve of the Olympics, especially after police foiled a plot last month by Muslim Uighur separatists to highjack an aircraft.