He has also said that he would be more than happy having Tibet remain an autonomous state of China for reasons of economics.
link to the quote?
I am sure a Hong Kong style autonomy would benefit them but is hard to see the Communist party handing out semi-democracy like candy to whoever asks.
Yeah, I'll have to hunt around to find the citation. I heard it in a speech he gave in NYC about 10-11 years ago following the release of Kundun.
searches around a bit http://www.dalailama.com/news.220.htm Here is a recent-ish post by His Holiness.
thanks
For many reasons, I have decided that I will not be the head of, or play any role in the government when Tibet becomes independent. The future head of the Tibetan Government must be someone popularly elected by the people. There are many advantages to such a step and it will enable us to become a true and complete democracy. I hope that these moves will allow the people of Tibet to have a clear say in determining the future of their country.