This month witnessed two cases of arrest of Chinese agents in India and the United States, especially linked with the Tibetan communities in these countries.
In the US, Baimadajie Angwang, who claims to be ethnically Tibetan, is a New York police department (NYPD) officer and US army reservist; he was arrested by US federal authorities on September 21 for working as an agent for the Chinese government. He is accused of informing on the activities of Chinese citizens and Tibetan communities in the New York area. Angwang has allegedly located and recruited potential intelligence assets among the Tibetan community in New York for the past six years. He has deep family ties to the People’s Republic of China: his father served in the People’s Liberation Army and his mother is a retired government official.
Angwang, 33, reportedly sought asylum in the US and is a naturalised citizen of the country. According to various reports, he has worked as an agent for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 2014 by spying on Tibetan independence activists in New York and helping China in its effort to suppress the Tibetan movement. The US Justice Department said “Angwang reported on the activities of Chinese citizens in the New York area, spotted and assessed potential intelligence sources within the Tibetan community in New York and elsewhere, and also provided PRC officials with access to senior New York City Police Department (NYPD) officials through invitations to official events.”
The charges against the NYPD officer could land him maximum of 55 years of prison sentence if convicted. “Baimadajie Angwang violated every oath he took he took in this country. One to the United States, another to the US Army, and a third to the Police Department,” said NYPD Commissioner Dermot F Shea.
Tibetans in the US and India reacted to the report by calling for stricter vigilance in exile Tibetan communities across the world, especially now that Tibetans are gearing up for the election of a new leadership in the exile (the head of Central Tibetan Administration, also known as the Tibetan government-in-exile).
Reports of Angwang’s ethnicity and history vary and it is not clear whether he is, in fact, Tibetan. He himself is reported as claiming that he was arrested and tortured by the Chinese authorities because of his ethnicity as Tibetan, but this has not been verified.
Tashi Choephel, former general secretary of the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey has spoken of a meeting with Baimadajie Angwang [written in Tibetan as Pema Dhargyal Ngawang] in 2019 where the latter introduced himself as Tibetan police officer and expressed his willingness to take part in organising Tibetan New Year celebrations. Speaking to Radio Free Asia, Choephel said that Pema DhargyalNgawang, despite introducing himself as a Tibetan, is not fluent in Tibetan. Choephel also revealed that he was spotted at Chinese Consulate in New York on the same day that he attended the Tibetan New Year Celebration, which made them suspicious of him at the time.
India, the host country of Tibetan exile government and residence of Tibetan and global Buddhist leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, also reports arrests of Chinese agents who are targeting the Tibetan community in India.
Photo: PTI
Rajeev Sharma, a journalist based in Delhi, was arrested on September 14 on suspicion of passing confidential information to Chinese intelligence officers about India’s border strategy, army deployment, defense acquisitions, foreign policy and information relating to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, according to a statement issued by Delhi Police. Delhi Police further revealed that Sharma was in contact with two Chinese agents, referred to as Michael and George, both allegedly based in Kunming, and who asked him “to write about Dalai Lama related issues” and that he “was offered US $ 500 per article /information.” Between January 2019 and September 2020, Sharma allegedly received INR 300,000 [US$ 4,00/ GBP 3,100] from George for the information he provided.
According to the Indian Official Secret Act (OSA), if found guilty, he could face up to 14 years in prison for violating the Act.
Chinese national Luo Sang – who used the name Charlie Peng – was arrested on August 11 by Delhi police for his involvement in a money laundering and hawala racket. He had been held in 2018 for impersonating and forgery, and has admitted to spying on Tibetans and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and also to assisting Chinese embassy officials to transfer money and arranging travel.
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