Pro-Tibet demonstrators have dogged each leg of the Olympic torch relay's world tour [Reuters]

In a statement on Friday, the Dalai Lama's office said: ""During this brief visit, the envoys will take up the urgent issue of the current crisis in the Tibetan areas."
 
It said the two representatives of the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile based in India would arrive in China on Saturday.
 
The talks will be the first face-to-face contact between the two sides since unrest erupted in Tibet on March 10, followed by a Chinese crackdown.
 
"They will convey His Holiness the Dalai Lama's deep concerns about the Chinese authorities handling of the situation and also provide suggestions to bring peace to the region," the statement said.
 
A Dalai Lama spokesman told AFP news agency that the envoys - Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen - had arrived in Hong Kong en route to mainland China for the talks.
 
"The envoys will raise the issue of moving forward on the process for a mutually satisfactory solution to the Tibetan issue," he said.

At least 5,715 people have been arrested since the protests began, Chinese officials said.
 
The unrest has both angered and embarrassed China ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August as pro-Tibet demonstrators have dogged each leg of the Olympic torch relay's world tour.
 
Tibetan leaders say the unrest is a result of the anger and frustration experienced by the people of Tibet after nearly six decades of repressive Chinese rule.
 
Chinese troops invaded Tibet in 1950 and officially annexed the region a year later.
 
The Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland following an uprising in the province in 1959, has repeatedly accused China of widespread human rights violations.

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