Next week, Queensland Liberal MP Michael Johnson will visit Tibet at the invitation of the Chinese Government. He will be accompanied on the four-day visit by two News Limited journalists, Steve Lewis and Cameron Stewart of The Australian newspaper.

Interviewed in Beijing by telephone yesterday, Mr Johnson told The Canberra Times it was ''a great privilege and a unique opportunity to lead an Australian media delegation to Tibet''.

Mr Johnson said he hoped to travel outside the regional capital of Lhasa and speak to ''people beyond government circles''. Chinese Government translators will accompany the delegation.

The Chinese authorities have heavily restricted foreign access to Tibet, especially access by journalists, following the suppression of the March uprising against Beijing's rule of the territory.

In April, the Chinese Government rebuked Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for raising concerns about human rights in Tibet .

Mr Johnson said the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party had invited him to lead a media delegation to Tibet during a trip to Beijing in July.

Mr Johnson is a strong proponent of strengthening Australia's ties with China.

His trip to Lhasa comes as members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet have made a request to Lhasa on a fact-finding mission.

Labor backbencher Michael Danby, Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Liberal backbencher Peter Slipper wrote to Chinese Ambassador Zhang Junsai last month, saying they would like to visit Tibet to understand how events have progressed since the March riots.

Mr Danby expressed surprise about Mr Johnson's trip to Lhasa, saying the Liberal MP had ''not previously demonstrated interest or expertise on Tibet''.

Senator Brown said ''Any foreign group going to Tibet is to be welcomed, that's the Dalai Lama's view, but it's a hollow exercise if it's done to grace the Chinese Government propaganda effort.''