THE BOSTON GLOBE * Wednesday, January 8, 1997

I was shocked to hear that Ngawang Choephel was sentenced to 18 years in prison last week for spying against China ("China sentences Tibetan scholar," World Briefs, Dec. 28). Ngawang grew up with my wife in a refugee camp in southern India.

When Ngawang last visited us in March of 1995, he told us that he was going to Tibet in the summer to videotape traditional Tibetan music and dance. He sang a few Tibetan songs to us just before he left, which we recorded on tape. We did not realize that it would be the last time we would hear from him.

Ngawang Choephel - a former Fulbright Scholar at Middlebury College - is a humble man and is passionate about music. The accusation that he is a spy funded by the United States is absurd.

The exceptionally harsh sentence imposed on Ngawang Choephel is a warning to Tibetans that they can expect no rights under the current regime's rule.

The Chinese government seems to believe that with the delinking of human rights from most-favored-nation trading status, the American people no longer care about human rights.

This administration needs to demonstrate that the American people are deeply concerned about human rights conditions in Tibet and China.

When Vice President Al Gore meets with Chinese leaders in Beijing, he should press for Ngawang Choephel's immediate release.

In the meantime we will pray for Ngawang's well being and freedom.

Wangchuk Meston

Newton, MA