That link is for NYT subscribers only so I dug it up from the library:

The Dalai Lama's administration acknowledged today that it received $1.7 million a year in the 1960's from the Central Intelligence Agency, but denied reports that the Tibetan leader benefited personally from an annual subsidy of $180,000.

The money allocated for the resistance movement was spent on training volunteers and paying for guerrilla operations against the Chinese, the Tibetan government-in-exile said in a statement. It added that the subsidy earmarked for the Dalai Lama was spent on setting up offices in Geneva and New York and on international lobbying.

The Dalai Lama, 63, a revered spiritual leader both in his Himalayan homeland and in Western nations, fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against a Chinese military occupation, which began in 1950.

The decade-long covert program to support the Tibetan independence movement was part of the C.I.A.'s worldwide effort to undermine Communist governments, particularly in the Soviet Union and China.
Copyright New York Times Company Oct 2, 1998
Credit: AP

how did u kno i was a cia agent?

my effing grandma has such a big mouth

Your Grandma's been on the payroll since Ike was Prez!

He spoke at my college about a month ago... It was amazing. He just had this effect over all of us the second he stepped onto the stage.

This happened forty years ago. Circumstances were different then, and this seems to be soon after the PRC invaded Tibet. This doesn't change my opinion on the Dalai Lama at all.

I really thought my mate was pulling my leg! It's just one of those weird stories that occasionally turn out to be true.

If you know about what the Chinese government is doing to destroy the culture of Tibet, you would understand a sense of any-means-necessary. I'm not saying it's right, but it's very sad what is going on.

I don't blame him, but he has said in the past that he's 100% against violent resistance if I'm not mistaken.

Thing is though, the money going to active resistance groups, and the money going to him, may not be to aid the same ends. More likely that the money given by the US to the Dalai Lama was for lobbying and public relations work, to publicise the situation in the country. It seems unlikely (though not impossible) that the Dalai Lama would use the money for violent ends.

I mean, he hasn't set foot in Tibet in decades anyway.

And the US govt was willing to fund anyone working to undermine a Communist government.

Sorry - may not be to aid the same MEANS. Same ends, obviously.

I seem to remember a friend of mine telling me recently that the Dalai Lama has publicly stated that Tibetan independence is somewhat of a lost cause.

Unless the UN actually acknowledges the complete destruction to the Tibetan culture going on in Tibet, and then does something to act upon it, it IS a lost cause.

China claims that historically, Tibet has been a part of China, which is complete crap -- Tibet grew as an independent culture. At some point a few hundred years ago, China came along and was like "oh uh hey we want to own this" and Tibet was like, "whatever dudes," but China didn't actually act upon anything and left Tibet be until last century. Why Tibet? China wanted natural resources, and since they invaded Tibet they've run rampant with deforestation.

Anyway, didn't mean to rant but it's kind of a touchy subject for me -- I'm strongly pro-Tibet.

What's happening in Tibet has happened in a lot of places, and it's never right.

Thing is though, considering China's growing stature, and it's position on the UN Security Council, as well as the relative support it receives from Russia, it's pretty much accepted that the UN ain't gonna do shit.

And no one else is going to step in - there isn't enough blood involved in the Tibetan situation (more a gradual and consistent degradation of culture and human rights). Plus, there's no material gain as such for any country with the clout to take humanitarian action. And most of the West doesn't give a crap about Tibet, so that's the public support gone, too.

It's pretty sad.

Yeah, it's incredibly sad... Especially when you consider what's going to happen with the current Dalai Lama dies. Most people accept that he's going to be the last.