Two agents of the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA, paid a visit to Lhasa in 1943, the first official visit of American representatives to the nation-state of Tibet. The Allies’ priority for this visit was the containment of Japanese influence in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. The two agents met the young Dalai Lama. Tibet was actively seeking independence from China and hoped to establish relations with the US. However, the State Department advised against the mission, which was plagued by suboptimal communication among US federal government agencies and secretiveness among the Allied forces—most prominently by the Chongqing Chinese government. The OSS officers’ visit offered little hope for US intervention in Tibet’s struggle with China, but this mission did achieve a breakthrough in relations between the US and Tibet, while also roiling the Chinese government.