By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Sept. 22: The Tibetan exile community has come out to condemn China as a Tibetan man who was a member of the New York Police Department was arrested on Monday for being an “intelligence asset” for China.
Baimadajie Angwang (Pema Dorjee Ngawang), 33, is charged with espionage, and accused of gathering information about New York city’s Tibetan community for the Chinese government. The NYPD officer who is a naturalised US citizen, worked for the police department’s community affairs unit. He is also a member of the US Army Reserve, working as a civil affairs specialist with security clearance of some degree.
Authorities said that he worked with his handlers from the Chinese consulate and has received “multiple substantial wire transfers from the PRC [People’s Republic of China]”, according to court papers. Court documents also say that he claimed to be tortured in China because of his ethnicity, however, the investigation allegedly revealed that both of his parents were members of the Chinese Communist Party and that he had travelled to Tibet on numerous occasions over the years.
New York City police commissioner Dermot Shea said the officer “violated every oath he took in this country. One to the United States, another to the US Army, and a third to this Police Department”. NYPD said he is suspended without pay at the moment. Ngawang has been ordered to be held without bail and could face 55 years in jail if convicted.
Dorjee Tseten, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet said that the Chinese agent’s main tasks were to advance China’s political agenda and to try to stop the Tibetan community from engaging in political activities for the cause of Tibetan freedom. He said, “Tibetans have long known the Chinese government is spying on our communities, even in a free country like the United States, and this incident shows the lengths to which Beijing would go to undermine the Free Tibet movement.
“That a Chinese spy targeting Tibetans could infiltrate the NYPD, and even the U.S. military, should be a wake-up call for all our leaders – at the federal, state and local level – about the alarming depth and reach of China’s espionage operations.”
Washington based Tibet advocacy group, International Campaigns for Tibet in a statement said the incident shows that “Chinese Communist Party is engaged in malign operations to suppress dissent, not only in Tibet … but any place in the world where Tibetans are free to express themselves.”
4 Responses
This man betrayed his duty as an NYPD officer & Army reservist. He betrayed the Tibetan community & his adopted country (USA). Perhaps he was a spy originally sent by Beijing. Perhaps he was an ordinary person corrupted by Chinese money (the Soviets did it often during the Cold War). Perhaps he is ethnic Chinese pretending to be Tibetan. Either way Tibetan exiles must always be vigilant against Chinese espionage. China views us as enemies of the state & will stop at nothing to prevent Tibetan freedom & democracy. But remember truth is on our side & we are not afraid of China’s lies & deceptions. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
A lot of media outlets have covered on this Chinese agent’s arrest and reported essentially with the same story line.
I would appreciate a more in-depth, Tibetan focused, investigative story of his activities in the Tibetan community or communities he operated in. I am sure there are Tibetans in NY who came in contact with this agent and can shed some light on his activities.
It would be helpful to learn how these people operate in our communities.
How many times does the NYC Tibetans need to screw up before they start to wake up and reflect? Not so long ago, the liberal hivemind that is the Big Apple played center stage for the March 10th fiasco; and then there was the TYC controversy. Now we see that the NYC Tibetan community, not only hosted a spy and a traitor, they also seem to have cluelessly invited China soft AOC, leader of the hate America radical far left, cancel culture movement, who condone looting and riots to get political power. Interesting, both at the same party, what other vipers lodged in the bosom?
This is 3 strikes. Makes you wonder just who’s side the NY Tibetan community leaders are on? Besides the obvious wrong side. My take is, when playing with politics, stay informed or be Useful Idiots!
not just nyc tibetans but mainstream tibetan diaspora mindset is aligned with the left liberal/marxist ideology. it was natural in the early years because of common shared interests and values but over the years the left liberal has devolved into marxist/leftist/islamist appeasing/self hating radicals whereas the conservative/republicans have moved more towards center. for many of our youth people like aoc and ilhan omar are their heroes. cant blame them. the indoctrination in the education system and msm is for real. if you watch the meltdown of the loony left with trump derangement syndrome it looks like a severe disorder. on the positive side, all over the world i see many people waking up so hopefully our tibetan brothers and sisters are waking up too.