By JOHN LEICESTER - Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) -- A Fulbright scholar who returned to his native Tibet to research musical traditions is under investigation by Chinese authorities for allegedly spying and promoting Tibetan independence.

In a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, China confirmed it is investigating Ngawang Choephel, who has been missing for more than a year.

The letter, from the Chinese embassy in Washington, was sent to Sen. James M. Jeffords, a Vermont Republican, who wrote to enquire about Choephel's status.

The embassy alleged that Choephel had been sent to Tibet by the exiled government of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, with financial support from Americans whom it did not identify.

It said Choephel "used the cover of so-called collecting Tibetan folk songs to gather sensitive intelligence and engaged in illegal separatist activities."

The letter said Choephel was suspected of having broken China's National Security Law and judicial authorities were handling the case.

It did not say whether Choephel is in custody. The exiled Tibetan government has said Choephel was arrested in August 1995 in Shigatse, Tibet's second largest town.

Choephel studied and taught ethnomusicology at Middlebury College in Vermont in 1993-94 on a Fulbright scholarship. He was affiliated with the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama's government is based.

A statement from the exiled government said Choephel went to Tibet on his own volition to film a documentary on Tibetan music and research Tibetan "songs and dances before they are lost forever."

Sen. Jeffords, in his letter to the embassy, said Choephel's trip was

"purely cultural, not political."

Choephel reportedly was traveling on an Indian identity card that listed him as a Tibetan refugee: His family fled Tibet in 1965 when he was 2 years old. The Chinese government does not recognize the certificate.

China sent its army into Tibet in 1950 and formally took over the country a year later, claiming it historically was Chinese territory.

The Dalai Lama and other senior clergy members fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising.