Published by: World Tibet Network News Monday January 12, 1998

TAIPEI, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A handful of pro-Beijing activists clashed with Hollywood star Richard Gere's security guards on Saturday as they tried to force their way into the actor's photograph exhibition.

The activists said they had wanted to protest against Gere's support for Tibetan independence from Beijing.

``Easy, easy,'' the smiling Hollywood star told a protester who tried to approach him.

One of Gere's assistants was slightly injured during the brief, chaotic clash.

Gere is a disciple of the Dalai Lama's Tibetan Buddhism and a fierce critic of what he calls Beijing's ``cultural genocide'' in Tibet. He was in Taiwan to promote an exhibition of photographs he took in Tibet.

Gere met with Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui shortly after his arrival on Friday and chatted about religion, the Dalai Lama's quest for Tibetan autonomy and even Gere's latest movie, ``Red Corner'' -- a cinematic indictment of China's justice system.

Gere said his Taiwan visit was inspired by the Dalai Lama's March 1997 tour of the Nationalist-ruled island, which Beijing sees as a Chinese territory that must be brought under its sovereign control. REUTERS