Queens Tibetans were suspicious of NYPD officer well before foreign spying charge
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NYPD community affairs officer Baimadajie Angwang (left, with Police Benelovent Association President Pat Lynch) is charged with acting as a spy for China. Photo via Facebook
By David Brand
Tibetans in Queens were suspicious of a local NYPD officer long before he was charged with spying on them as an agent of the Chinese government, says one leading activist.
Baimadajie Angwang, a 33-year-old former marine, worked as a community affairs officer in the 111th Precinct, a role that masked his other job tracking the activities of the Tibetan community in Queens and elsewhere in New York City, according to federal prosecutors. Angwang was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Monday afternoon.
But Dorjee Tseten, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said Tibetans in the area sensed something shady about Angwang’s behavior more than a year ago.
“Some members had raised flags about the way he communicates,” Tseten said. “They found out either him or his family have had a link to the Chinese consulate. The community was aware and suspicious about this person.”
Angwang allegedly conferred with two officials from the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, an agency that seeks to neutralize opposition to Chinese policies, since at least 2014, according to his criminal complaint.
Federal prosecutors say he allegedly snitched to the Chinese consulate about the activities of Tibetan Americans in and around New York City, groomed intelligence sources and provided Chinese officials with access to NYPD brass. The Chinese government has called the allegations “pure fabrication.”
Tseten said he did not know Angwang personally but was aware of him attending at least one event hosted by the organization, a Tibetan New Year’s party last year.
Tibet, a vast stretch of territory along the Himalayan Mountains, has been occupied by China since 1951, though its government-in-exile claims sovereign status.
Tseten said he suspects many other Chinese agents are working in the United States to suppress dissent and spread misinformation among Tibetans.
“We are concerned about the situation inside Tibet and the Tibetan community in Queens is one of the largest communities outside Asia,” he said. “Our families are in Tibet and we are concerned about our safety and about threats that the American-Tibetan community are facing from the Chinese government.”
Angwang, a naturalized U.S. citizen from China, is also charged with committing wire fraud, making material false statements and obstructing an official proceeding. If convicted, he faces up to 55 years in prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme said the cop “violated his sworn oath to serve the New York City community and defend the Constitution against all enemies” by working on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.
He was ordered held without bail by a federal judge Monday.
