The Dalai Lama has called on Tibetan exiles to improve their contacts with ordinary Chinese people as they press for autonomy from Beijing.
He welcomed a decision by exiles meeting in India to back his policy of seeking autonomy, rather than full independence, from China.
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The veteran leader, 73, also sought to end rumours he was planning to retire.
Speaking to exiles in the Himalayan town from which he has led the Tibetan cause for nearly 50 years, he said: "My faith in the Chinese people has never been shaken".
But his faith in the Chinese government, he added, was "getting thinner", and he accused them of using "fear and ruthless suppression" to control Tibet.
Although Tibet has enjoyed long periods of autonomy or self-rule, China maintains that it has always been an integral part of its territory.
Chinese Communist forces invaded Tibet in 1950 and have ruled there ever since.
Under the Dalai Lama's so-called "Middle Way" approach, Tibetans would essentially stop pushing for the re-establishment of Tibet as an independent nation.
"[The] majority of views have come up supporting the Middle Way path to the Tibetan issue... which is right," he told the exiles.
The man who has championed Tibet for decades, and who was treated in hospital with abdominal pains earlier this year, said of himself:
"There is no point, or question of retirement," he said.
He was speaking after a week-long meeting concluded that if China makes no effort to meet the Dalai Lama's demands then other options, including calls for independence and self determination, would be put forward.
Delegates also suggested that the Dalai Lama's envoy should not return to China unless attitudes change in Beijing.
(BBC)
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