Dalai Lama says ready to negotiate with China

"Our position is very clear. We are always ready (to negotiate) as long as we get a green light from China," the Dalai Lama told Reuters in Taipei, a day before he was set to leave Taiwan after praying for victims of a recent deadly typhoon.

He said China had given no green light for talks "so far."

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Beijing calls him a "splittist" who seeks to separate nearly a quarter of the land mass of the People's Republic of China. The Dalai Lama denies the charge and says he seeks greater rights, including religious freedom and autonomy, for Tibetans.