Baimadajie Angwang, 33, a New York City Police Department officer and United States Army reservist, was arrested for allegedly spying on fellow Tibetans for China.

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

NEW YORK –  New York City Police Department  Officer Baimadajie Angwang  was arrested for allegedly acting  as an intelligence agent of the People’s Republic of China, the  U.S. Department Of Justice announced Monday.  A criminal complaint was unsealed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging Angwang, 33, with acting as an illegal agent of China as well as committing wire fraud, making false statements and obstructing an official proceeding.  Angwang was arrested earlier today in Williston Park, New York, and his initial appearance is scheduled for this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo at the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, NY.  Angwang worked at the 111th precinct in Bayside as a member of the community affairs unit.  According to Federal prosecutors,  Angwang provided intelligence on Tibetans living in New York City and throughout the area in exchange for money. He’s also accused of offering those Chinese officials access to senior NYPD personnel.

“State and local officials should be aware that they are not immune to the threat of Chinese espionage. According to the allegations, the Chinese government recruited and directed a U.S. citizen and member of our nation’s largest law enforcement department to further its intelligence gathering and repression of Chinese abroad. Our police departments provide for our public safety and are often the first line of defense against the national security threats our country faces.  We will continue to work with our state and local partners to protect our nation’s great police departments.”

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers

“Baimadajie Angwang violated every oath he took in this country” – NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea

Credit: Twitternypd111pct /   NYPD officer Baimadajie Angwang arrested for allegedly spying on fellow Tibetans for China.

“As alleged in this federal complaint, Baimadajie Angwang violated every oath he took in this country. One to the United States, another to the U.S. Army, and a third to this Police Department. From the earliest stages of this investigation, the NYPD’s Intelligence and Internal Affairs bureaus worked closely with the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division to make sure this individual would be brought to justice.”

– NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea.

According to the publicly filed complaint and detention memorandum, Angwang, an ethnic Tibetan native of the PRC and naturalized U.S. citizen who resides in Williston Park, New York, is assigned to NYPD’s community affairs unit where, among other things, he serves as a liaison to the community served by the 111th Precinct.   Since at least 2014, Angwang acted at the direction and control of officials at the PRC Consulate in New York City.  Specifically, 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 provided PRC officials with access to senior NYPD officials through invitations to official events.  One of the PRC Consular officials at whose direction Angwang acted worked for the “China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture,” a division of the PRC’s United Front Work Department.  This Department is responsible for, among other things, neutralizing potential opponents of the PRC and co-opting ethnic Chinese individuals living outside the PRC, according to the  Department Of Justice.

According to court documents, Angwang was explicit about his motivations, telling his PRC official handler that was wanted to get promoted within the NYPD so that he could assist the PRC and bring “glory to China.”  In addition, Angwang told his handler that the handler’s superiors in Beijing “should be happy . . . because you have stretched your reach into the police.”