Actor Richard Gere, right, speaks to Tibetan hunger striker Sonam Wangdu during a hunger strike near the United Nations headquarters in New York Tuesday, April 13, 2004. Gere showed support to the three Tibetans as the entered their twelfth day of a hunger strike to call attention to the fight for independence of Tibet. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
12/19/2002
The media generally credit Richard Gere for the creation of Tibet House. It is not true. CIA is the founder of Tibet House, according to declassified CIA documents.
The same CIA document also disclosed that the Dalai Lama was paid annualy $180,000 by the CIA.
This is what declassified CIA document said about Tibet House in New York:
The Agency (CIA) is supporting the establishment of Tibet Houses in [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] Geneva, and New York City.
The Tibet Houses are intended to serve as unofficial representation for the Dalai Lama to maintain the concept of a separate Tibetan political identity.