Sweden charges Chinese man with spying on Tibetans

Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday charged a 49-year-old Chinese man with espionage for allegedly gathering intelligence on Tibetan refugees in Sweden and Norway for China.

The man, identified in the charge sheet as Dorjee Gyantsan, is accused of infiltrating the Tibetan community to pass information on their personal and political activities to Chinese officials in exchange for money. His lawyer, Mikael Soderberg, said that his client — who faces up to four years in prison — denied all charges.

Mr. Gyatsan acquired resident status as a refugee in Sweden in the early 2000s, and posed as a supporter of Tibetan independence, prosecutors said. He also attended Tibetan anti-China protests in Norway, and covered a visit of the Dalai Lama to Norway as a reporter for the pro-Tibetan Voice of Tibet, in order to collect information on Tibetan refugees. The espionage is believed to have taken place from July 2015 to February 2017, when he was arrested.

130 Tibetan live there

Some 130 Tibetans live in the country, according to the organisation Tibetan Community in Sweden.

Prosecutors believe Mr. Gyatsan met repeatedly with a Chinese Embassy secretary in Poland to pass on information.