China plans talks with Tibet envoys in "near future"

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will arrange new talks with Dalai Lama's envoys in the near future, state media said on Wednesday, days after the exiled Tibetan leader said he was downcast about negotiations with Beijing.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, has said he wants a high level of autonomy for Tibet, but not outright independence. China brands him a separatist.

"Relevant departments of the Central Authorities of China will arrange another round of contacts and negotiation with private representatives of the Dalai Lama in the near future at the request of the Dalai Lama side," the official Xinhua news agency said in a brief English-language story.

The Chinese officials said the Dalai Lama should "treasure this opportunity and make (a) positive response", it said.

The report did not mention when the proposed talks would be and who from the Chinese side would attend.

A senior aide of the 73-year-old leader of Tibetan Buddhism said on Sunday the Dalai Lama saw "no hope" of winning self-determination for his homeland, which erupted in riots and unrest in March.

But the Dalai's office later issued a "clarification" and said his remarks had been misrepresented.

The Dalai Lama nonetheless said "the Chinese leadership has so far not responded positively to our overtures and does not seem interested in addressing the issue in a realistic way", according to the emailed clarification.