Contact is taking a holiday!

Penpa Tsering

In a case that shows that the Chinese government will do just about anything to undermine the Tibetan exile community, an alleged Chinese spy was arrested by Indian police in Dharamsala on May 22.  Following the arrest of  33 year-old Penpa Tsering, The Department of Security of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) released a statement revealing that the culprit was planning to poison two Tibetan youths to spread ‘chaos and terror in the Tibetan community’.

According to the superintendent of police in Dharamsala, Balbir Thakur, the suspect had been under surveillance after the police received a written complaint from Tibetan security agencies regarding suspicious activities. This surveillance led to the arrest of Penpa Tsering on grounds of suspicious activities against the Tibetan community.

Interrogation by Tibetan security officials has revealed that Tsering hails from Lhari region of Nagchu in central Tibet and that in 2009 he was recruited, and then sent to India. Prior to his incursion, Tsering was a member of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and also served in the People’s Security Bureau. Furthermore, he confessed that his initial mission involved collecting intelligence on suspected ‘terrorist’ activities against China led by the CTA and Tibetan NGOs in exile. He was also tasked with keeping a close watch on His Holiness the Dalai Lama, reporting on both his health condition and schedules. By posing as staff in the CTA’s Department of Security, Tsering made contact with a large number of Tibetan individuals in order to collect intelligence on NGO’s, important personalities, newly arrived refugees from Tibet, and on general vulnerabilities and opportunities for destabilisation within the Tibetan community.

Last week’s arrest is not the first example of Chinese nationals illegally placing themselves within the Tibetan community. In both 2004 and 2006, a Chinese woman who claimed to be a nun was arrested and deported back to China for not having valid documents. In 2008, a Chinese national was arrested in Mcleod Ganj – at the time of his arrest he was in contact with high ranking Chinese military officials in Lhasa. And in 2012, another Chinese national was arrested in Mcleod Ganj, staying in a monastery without valid papers. However, the foiled assassination attempt shows a new depth in the Chinese Government’s strategic cruelty, adopting ever more radical approaches to undermine and destabilise the Tibetan exile community.