Creating furore Richard Gere arrives in Kathmandu · 2007-04-18 16:18
After creating a furore in India by kissing a Bollywood starlet, Richard Gere arrived in Kathmandu yesterday to meet Tibetan activists, an official from the International Campaign for Tibet said.
"It's a low profile visit based around his concerns about Tibetan refugees coming through Nepal," Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for the group, said.
With a long and porous border with Chinese-controlled Tibet to the north, around 2,500 refugees a year make the dangerous trip across the Himalayas into Nepal, and often onto India where the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has lived in exile since 1959.
Hollywood star Gere, 57, has been a supporter of the Tibetan cause for 25 years and is "very much a hands-on chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet," Saunders said.
Local media reported that Gere last visited Nepal in 1996, and during this two-day visit he will meet leaders from the Tibetan community and Nepali politicians, Saunders said.
Nepal's government recognises Beijing's "One China" policy, which deems Taiwan and Tibet to be intrinsic parts of China.
On Monday protesters in India burned effigies of Gere after he showered actress Shilpa Shetty with kisses at an Aids awareness event, Gulf Times informs.
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