A group of senior U.S. lawmakers has called on President Bush to visit Tibet while he is in China attending the Olympics in August.

Four senators sent the president a letter Friday asking Mr. Bush to press China to allow a U.S. consulate to be established in Lhasa, one site of Tibetan protests in March.

The president has said he will attend the Beijing Olympics, despite calls by rights groups for him to boycott the opening of the games.

London-based Amnesty International has also asked U.S. corporate sponsors to speak out about the eroding human rights situation ahead of the games.

In China, the Olympic torch Friday made its third stop in the southern province of Guangdong.  Large enthusiastic crowds have filled streets during the domestic torch relay.

On Thursday, China celebrated the successful climb to the summit of the world's highest mountain by a team of Chinese mountaineers carrying the Olympic flame.
 
No incidents have been confirmed during the domestic leg of the Olympic torch run, in contrast to protests against China's crackdown in Tibet that occurred earlier during the torch's five-continent journey toward Beijing.

The Olympic torch will continue to travel around mainland China, visiting provinces with large Tibetan populations in June, on its way to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August eighth.