Washington - The Dalai Lama said on a visit in the United States that his representatives and the Chinese were holding talks through private channels, media reports said.

"Some efforts" were under way, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader said Sunday in Seattle after violent demonstrations against Chinese rule and a Chinese crackdown occurred last month in Tibet and other Tibetan-populated areas of China.

"Just a few days these are going on," the Dalai Lama said, adding, the are "still in full mystery. I don't want any speculation."

While he gave no details about the talks, he said he was not directly involved in them.

His comments came after Western leaders urged Beijing to hold talks with the Dalai Lama, who was in Seattle for a conference on compassion.

China's government, however, has accused the Nobel Peace Prize winner of orchestrating the protests and violence and charged him with being a separatist, both of which the Dalai Lama has denied and refuted again Sunday.

He urged China to open Tibet to the media and public so they could see what was actually going on there while charging the government in Beijing with manipulating information and its people.

However, the 72-year-old added that President Hu Jintao's push for a "harmonious society" showed the ruling Communist Party was "in a state of transformation."

He reiterated his support for Beijing's hosting of the Olympic Games in August while adding that China critics should be allowed to protest peacefully during the Olympic torch relay. He also repeated his threat to step down as head of the Tibetan government in exile if violence in Tibet gets out of hand.

The Dalai Lama acknowledged that some Tibetans have criticized his stance of seeking autonomy for Tibet within China, rather than full independence. His critics charged it has produced nothing.

"Sooner or later, the Chinese Communist Party of China must accept reality and act according to reality" toward Tibet, the Dalai Lama said.

He said that while he supported China's aim to become a superpower and believed it deserved to become one, it lacked the crucial element of "moral authority." (dpa)