Senior US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation on a rare visit to Tibet, China confirmed Thursday, more than six years after reportedly being forbidden from visiting the region.

Beijing rejected a request by the Democratic party leader to visit the sensitive Himalayan area during her last trip to China in 2009, according to US diplomatic cables from the time released by Wikileaks.

Pelosi, the US House of Representatives minority leader, has long been a fierce critic of Chinese human rights abuses and an advocate for the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader in exile and frequent target of Beijing's wrath.

Authorities accuse the spiritual leader of separatism, claiming he has worked to split China from the territory, which Beijing has ruled since 1951.

Following Pelosi's 2009 trip, the Chinese ambassador in Kazakhstan told his US counterpart that Beijing was "fearful" of her visit, according to one of the cables, adding that the foreign ministry was "scared to death on the eve of her visit".

China's foreign ministry confirmed Pelosi's visit Thursday during a regular press briefing today, with spokesman Hong Lei saying the trip came as part of a "normal activity of exchange".

The US Embassy in Beijing had no comment on the trip and no details of the itinerary were announced.

In a statement on her website before the visit, Pelosi wrote that the delegation, which included six Democratic lawmakers, would seek to "engage in constructive dialogue on human rights, cyber threats, and other national security and stability issues of concern".

She did not mention the visit to Tibet.

Authorities tightly control visits to Tibet. Even ordinary foreign tourists need a permit to enter, and it is generally off-limits to foreign media and diplomats.

In the past, Pelosi's position on Tibet has earned her an unenviable reputation in the Chinese press.

"If an opinion poll were to be carried out on the Internet in China to choose the most disgusting figure, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would probably be on top of the list," the official Xinhua news agency wrote in 2008.

Pelosi's visit comes as Beijing faces criticism of its human rights record ahead of a review next week by the United Nations anti-torture committee.

Amnesty International Thursday released a report slamming China for what it described as a widespread practice of extracting forced confessions from prisoners, especially human rights lawyers.

The issue is another thorn in the side of relations between Washington and Beijing, which are strained over a variety of issues ranging from cyber-snooping to China's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea.

But the world's two largest economies maintain a vibrant economic relationship that both sides are eager to promote.