Dalai Lama hopes to ease tension through dialogue

But Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader said Thursday he would not travel to Beijing for talks unless there was "a real concrete development" in relations between Beijing and Tibet. He did not elaborate.

Chinese officials said they would talk with the Dalai Lama if he "stopped separatist activities" and recognized Tibet and Taiwan as parts of China.

The Dalai Lama has long maintained that independence was not his aim.

"The whole world knows Dalai Lama is not seeking independence, one hundred times, thousand times I have repeated this. It is my mantra - we are not seeking independence," he told reporters in Dharmsala, the seat of Tibet's government-in-exile.

The Dalai Lama has said he wants dialogue with China aimed at giving Tibetans autonomy, but remaining under Beijing rule.

"The Tibet problem must be solved between Tibetan people and Chinese people," he said.

The Dalai Lama said he would be prepared to meet with any Chinese leaders, including Hu. Many Tibetans harbor a deep resentment toward Hu, who served as Tibet's Communist Party chief beginning in 1989, marking a return to hard-line policies after a period of relative openness.

Chinese officials have accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of organizing violent clashes in Tibet in hopes of sabotaging this summer's Beijing Olympics and promoting Tibetan independence.

The Dalai Lama has said in the past that he would meet Chinese leaders. His representatives re-established formal contact with China in 2002 after years of silence. They have met six times since, most recently last June in China.

Tibetan officials in exile say at least 80 people have died in the violence following protests in Tibet that began March 10 on the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising. Chinese officials say 16 people were killed.

On Thursday, Chinese officials and media said unrest had also taken place in neighboring provinces in recent days.

The Dalai Lama said he feared there would be more bloodshed as more Chinese forces were sent into these regions and appealed to the international community to help.