Daily US Times: US officials have confirmed that a New York City Police Department officer has been charged with acting as an illegal agent for China.
Tibet-born Baimadajie Angwang is accused of assessing potential sources of intelligence in the Tibetan community and reporting on the activities of Chinese citizens in the New York area.
The naturalised US citizen, who worked for the New York police department’s community affairs unit, was arrested on Monday.
He faces a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison if convicted.
Angwang is also employed by the US Army Reserve, working as a civil affairs specialist, prosecutors say.
Mr Angwang is accused of being in contact with two officials at the Chinese consulate.
Aside from reporting on Tibetans in the city, the police officer allegedly provided the consulate with access to senior NYPD officials through invitations to official events.
Court documents said, he told his Chinese official handler that he wanted to be promoted within the NYPD so that he could assist China and bring the country “glory”,
Mr Angwang is also accused of committing wire fraud, making false statements and obstructing an official proceeding in his road to spying for China.
According to court documents, he received “multiple substantial wire transfers from the PRC [People’s Republic of China]”.
His father is a retired member of China’s army and a member of the Communist Party of China, and his mother is also a member of the party and a former government official, the documents say.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot F Shea said in a statement: c”As alleged in this federal complaint, Baimadajie Angwang 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.”
Tibet, a remote and mainly Buddhist territory, is governed as an autonomous region of China, but it says the region has developed considerably under its rule.
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