"Judging from some of the statements made by the Chinese leadership, particularly the office for the autonomous region of Tibet, what they have to say about the Tibetan situation is not very encouraging," Kesang Yangkyi Takla told a news conference in Tokyo.

While saying she had not been briefed on the talks in Beijing, the foreign minister in exile said it "doesn't sound like the authorities are willing to listen to the suffering of Tibetan people."

"That said, we have to see what the real outcome of the seventh round of meetings is going to be," said Takla, part of the Tibetan government in exile in the northern Indian hill station of Dharamshala.

China has said little about the talks, which opened three months after major protests in Tibet against Beijing's controversial rule over the predominantly Buddhist Himalayan region.

The crackdown on the unrest, which spread to neighbouring Tibetan-populated areas of western China, sparked global demonstrations that marred the month-long international journey of the Beijing Olympic torch.

Asked what was on the agenda for the Beijing talks, Takla said: "We all know what the general outline is -- Tibet has problems, there's a violation of human rights, the issue of Tibet needs to be solved."

"We are willing to solve it in the middle-way approach by taking into consideration the interests of both China and Tibetan people," she said.

"Now I think the ball is very much in China's court, and I think this is acknowledged by the world community," she said.

She was in Tokyo for a two-day conference of Tibet supporters, who included Japanese opposition lawmakers.

The conference approved a resolution asking Japan to raise Tibet when it hosts the Group of Eight industrial powers' summit next week, to which Chinese President Hu Jintao has been invited.

A senior Japanese foreign ministry official said there were no concrete plans to discuss Tibet but that leaders may raise it.

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