The Dalai Lama has announced he’s prepared to travel to China to negotiate an end to a wave of Tibetan protests against Chinese rule. The Tibetan spiritual leader spoke Thursday from his base in northern India.

The Dalai Lama: “Chinese leaders and particularly with Hu Jintao only happy, meet. So then, as I mentioned earlier, go to Peking, meet leader, and, of course, that will be big news, isn’t it?”

The protests erupted last week when Buddhist monks took to the streets of Lhasa to mark the anniversary of the 1959 uprising against China. Human rights groups say dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested. The Dalai Lama also said he believes Chinese society has been corrupted by turning its back on welfare government.

The Dalai Lama: “During Mao’s time, there was belief, there was ideology. This is selfless ideology, serving working-class people, serving dedicate needy people, right? That spirit, selfless spirit, now gone. Everybody think money, money, money, money. So corruption, immense corruption.”