The Tibetan government-in-exile could hold more back-channel talks with China this year on greater autonomy for Tibet, although they are unlikely to yield results given Beijing's unyielding stance, the head of the government said on Friday.

It was a Great Escape in 1959 from Lhasa's Norbulingka Palace, the summer seat of the Dalai Lama, the head of Tibetan Buddhism. Then just 23, the Dalai Lama had no option but to flee Tibet after it became clear that an invitation to a dance event was communist China's bid to imprison him.