Baimadajie Angwang (pronounced Pema Dhargay Ngawang), a community affairs liaison at the 111th Precinct in Queens and a member of the US Marine Corps Reserve. NYPD/PBA
By Tom Hays | AP
NEW YORK, US, 22 September 2020
A New York City police officer was charged on Monday with being an “intelligence asset” for the Chinese government who agreed to spy on US supporters of the Tibetan independence movement.
Baimadajie Angwang, a naturalized US citizen from Tibet, worked since 2018 as an agent for the People’s Republic of China in its effort to suppress the movement, according to a criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court. It says he secretly worked for unnamed handlers from the Chinese consulate in New York.
There was no allegation that Angwang compromised national security or New York Police Department operations. Still, he was considered “the definition of an insider threat,” William Sweeney, head of the FBI’s New York office, said in a statement.
Angwang, 33, was ordered held without bail at an initial court hearing on Monday. There was no immediate response to a phone message seeking comment from his lawyer.
Along with being a NYPD officer, Angwang is a staff sergeant in the US Army Reserve who was given security clearance by the Department of Defense, according to court papers that accuse him of lying during a background check that got him that status.
Angwang’s job as a spy for China was to “locate potential intelligence sources” and “identify potential threats to the PRC in the New York metropolitan area,” court papers say. He also was expected to provide consulate officials “access to senior NYPD officials through invitations to official NYPD events,” they add.
The papers say the evidence includes intercepted communications between Angwang and a consulate official — someone Angwang called “big brother” and “boss” — about how to identify dissenters in the independence movement.
“They don’t believe in Tibetan Buddhism,” Angwang told the handler, according to the papers. “When the consulate extends a helping hand to them, they will feel the warmth of the motherland. How wonderful would that be?”
At one point, Angwang suggested that issuing 10-year visas to Tibetans in the United States would help recruit other spies, the papers say.
Angwang has worked at a NYPD precinct in Queens as a community liaison, authorities said. Before becoming a citizen, he sought asylum by claiming he had been arrested and tortured in China partly because of his Tibetan ethnicity, they said.
An advocacy group, International Campaign for Tibet, said in a statement that the arrest shows that the “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.”
This guy was speaking on TV saying ‘ We Chinese’ in Chinese language. It is obvious he’s a spy. It looks like he is not even hiding himself properly. In another video, he was speaking in Chinese about how to keep bulglers away.
He comes off as a Han Chinese who knows a bit of Tibetan. There’s nothing Tibetan about him except that he claimed asylum as an ethinic Tibetan. His body language, hair style, everything is a typical Han chinese.
Now getting asylum in USA will be much harder after this case. It is a bad news for Tibetans.
USA will screen asylum applicants extremely tightly, tracking their parents, etc. Plus he’s a silly Chinese spy. Why make your name Chinese-sounding like Baimadajie Angwang instead of Pema Dhargay Ngawang, and attract attention while saying he’s from Amdo Ngaba?
When applying for asylum as a Tibetan, he should possess Green Book or not? If so, where he made his Green Book?
My fellow Tibetans, we all know that China try to infiltrate the Tibetan institution many times in India too. But now they try to do in USA and really thankful for USA and especially FBI that he was caught. It is very learning moment for all the Tibetans that people tends to spread the rumors through FB/WECHAT and other social media, then many follow the same without analyzing the content. I request all the Tibetans Be together, United and our goal will achieved one day soon. Shame to those who work for CCP.
This NYPD cop’s name is Pema Wangdak. He’s talking about bribing a former political candidate who lost to be a spy for them. That probably means Tsoksur Penpa Tsering.
Maybe they have tried to bribe Penpa Tsering, but he must have refused. So they deported someone with his name from Nepal airport last year, saying Penpa Tsering was in the blacklist.
It is very curious.
Or maybe, as someone said, CCP deliberately set him up to be arrested as a Tibetan refugee to tarnish image of Tibetans. That way, CCP can make Western countries deny asylum to Tibetans, or give them jobs in high offices. That might be a means to weaken the exile Tibetans.
This cop may really be purposely sacrificed to be arrested by his bosses. There are clues: he had talked over phone with his bosses in China, visited China, told New York Tibetans to pull down Tibetan national flag. Now, think – will a real properly trained spy do these things? Real spies know phones are taped by secret agents, so they use other means. Real spies won’t return to home countries, cos that will cause suspicion. Real spies won’t object to Tibetan flag, because then it will be so obvious.
Most likely, this cop was meant to be arrested for a great cause of stirring doubts amongst Tibetans and with the US government. He’s just a pawn in a greater game, and he himself doesn’t know it.
Arrest of Dorjee Gyaltsen, who I also think was deliberately meant to be arrested and sacrificed, resulted in Sweden turning agianst Tibetans in general, to the extent of de-recognizing Yellow Book.
So sometimes, we feel jubilant when a spy is arrested. But the question is – what if china wanted them arrested to cause suspicion? In the murky world of intelligence services, anything can happen.
The NY Tibetan community looks like a cesspool of intrigue and chicanery. No doubt it was seized by the grip of the CCP foot soldiers. Who can forget the most bizarre act of humiliating Rangzen advocates like Students for a Free Tibet during a demonstration and the pro-China leader asking NY police to EVICT the Student Group from demonstrating against China and calling for “FREE TIBET”!!!!
The lackeys of communist China separated themselves from the Rangzen group and probably said something like “We adore you CCP”! Bless us with your money and we will eliminate the Rangzen brigade”!
Rangzen advocates were hunted down and smeared with anti-Dalai Lama tag while the CCP foot soldiers brandished the communist imperialist flag at India gate. They embraced the CCP like their mother and threatened those who either demonstrated against them or regarded the CCP as an enemy.
These scumbags and turncoats created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation by branding anyone who didn’t follow their dictates as worse than Shugden followers. Now, we see for ourselves the result of such capitulation has brought about among the community. It brought disunity, disharmony and perpetual infighting among ourselves, thanks to the infiltration of the CCP Trojans in our midst.
During this cultural Revolution like purge, eminent writers, scholars, film makers, youth leaders and anyone who espoused Rangzen were seen as the enemy of the people in true Marxist Lenninst tradition. They were silenced and disposed. By this act of kowtowing to CCP, it paved the way for the CCP to recruit informers, spies and trouble shooters in our midst.
Today, the exile unity is very fragile, thanks to the CCP agents who have worked tirelessly to divide us.
He looks Han Chinese. Maybe it is deliberately from the Chinese side. Sometimes I suspect china is playing a double game. They sacrifice these spies with the intention of getting arrested by host countries so that host countries will be wary of giving asylum to Tibetans.
For example, Tibetan spy in Sweden has put ‘Chendu Police academy’ as his school publicly on his facebook. That is deliberately inviting suspicion. Maybe his handlers in China wanted to get him arrested!!!
That might be a tactic to sow distrust amongst Tibetans well as between Tibetans and host countries.
WE have to research what his father and mother’s name is.
Watch Palki on Wion –
“Gravitas: After the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, China targets Tibetans”
CTA time to up the ante before things get worse. God helps those who help themselves.
When China invaded Tibet some 70 years ago there was a simplistic take on the so-called Tibetan traitors. I have always admired Gedun Choephel and Bapa Phuntsog Wangyal as Tibetan patriots.
Over the decades I have heard stories of Tibetan traitors; but nothing compared to Kim Philby and the British aristocrats “who ran with the foxes and hunted with the hounds”.
Tibetans are idealistic and realistic but I am not sure how sophisticated the Tibetan Government in Exile is in understanding the mind of traitors and the techniques to deprogram them.
One sad story: Tibetans caught a suspected Chinese spy and he successfully resisted threats and torture: but some show of friendship and alcohol loosened his tongue.
I doubt that would work nowadays but a working knowledge of human emotions and an appeal to our ‘better angels” should reveal the dreams and urges of China’s spies who violate their sacred oaths three times.
I hope Tibetan orgnizations file FOIA lawsuits to get the names of people who run with hares and hunt with hounds.
This is essential to the Tibetan Issue.
FBI and NYPD is doing what they have to do. We Tibetans need to do our part by investigating who invited this Chinese spy to the Tibetan New Year (Losar) celebration in New York? Tibetan Department of Security and Office of Tibet DC should check with the former Tibetan Community board member president Sonam Gaphel to see how this Chinese spy and his wife got an invitation for the Tibetan losar event. Both these spies came to Losar event with special guest passes. New York Tibetans have doubts with Sonam Gaphel led board members. Now these doubts are turning to reality. New York Tibetans thinks that there was a rotten egg or eggs or a rat amongst Sonam Gaphel led board members.
Ari Chitues, Pema Chadzotsang and Tsewang Rinzin should step up and investigate this matter instead of remaining comfortably in their houses. This Tsewang Rinzin should speak up now. He has been underground since he was elected as Ari Chitue. Where is he?
He doesn’t look Tibetan and he is a Chinese according to my source. He was planted by the CCP with the intention of grooming him to be a spy. In order to disguise his identity, he acquired a Tibetan name but he doesn’t speak Tibetan.
This is the second time the CCP infiltrated into western democratic nations using their open society to do the CCP’s dirty business,
In 2018, Dorjee Gyaltsen a 49 year old half Chinese, half Tibetan man was arrested by Swedish police for spying for China.
It can be assumed that there are many like these people who are either Tibetans, Chinese or other nationalities who are paid to spy. Among Tibetans, the Chinese consulates asks them to spy and get information on Tibetans by the promise of issuing easy visas to visit Tibet.
When they don’t they withhold issuing visa and some of them succumb to this blackmail because of their wish to visit Tibet.
This is very damaging for Tibetans because this will make western countries and India to be wary of Tibetans. If this is repeated often, this will create a trust deficit between Tibetans and the host country and its population.
All Tibetans where ever they are, if they have an iota of patriotism, they must make sure, their actions are not detrimental to their country men and their own children in future.
In Palestine, those who spied for Israel were killed in cold blood. Tibetans must consider a response to such anti-national acts of espionage by our own people because if we put this under the carpet, the CCP will get more brazen until we will lose all the good will we have earned all across the world.
It’s another insidious campaign by the satanic CCP to discredit the exile Tibetans who have a very good public relations image. We can’t afford to be complacent.
Squeeze him, there could be few more rotten apples. Maura Moynihan did accuse some in Free Asia as CCP agent. These traitors are direct risk to the person of His Holiness the Dalai Lama like when He visits NYC etc.