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On 21 February 2010, the Chinese Overseas Tibetan Association (COTA) was inaugurated in Los Angeles. Its aim was to promote the Sinicization of Tibetans. This virtual and short-lived platform (it no longer exists) was notable in that it received the blessing on one hand of several high-ranking diaspora Tibetan religious leaders and the other of the Chinese General Consulate of Los Angeles. 

Sun Weide, PRC Deputy General Consul in Los Angeles and former main Chinese spokesman for the 2008 Olympics (an experienced official), was there to represent the main Chinese interests at stake in this small, but meaningful venture in China’s soft power and "overseas affairs" (侨务; qiáowù). Also present at the launch were COTA's Chair, Yangjin Lamu, together with her influential father-in-law Chen Li-an (a member of the association's Honorary Council). The fact that the inauguration was programmed the very same day that the Dalai Lama had a public program in Los Angeles, was surely a mere coincidence.

To show his satisfaction, the Consul General Zhang Yun invited Yangjin Lamu and her husband Chen Yu-ting (COTA’s Deputy General Secretary) one month later as guests of honour to promote the Shanghai World Expo. COTA's work was considered valuable enough for the couple to be invited to Beijing later in 2010 to receive thanks from Dong Yunhu, Deputy Director of the PRC’s foremost propaganda organ, the State Council Information Office (SCIO). Dong would go on to serve as the chief propaganda official for the Tibet Autonomous Region. With COTA, Yangjin Lamu, her husband and father-in-law, were clearly on public duty for Beijing, and proud of it.

COTA's Executive General Secretary was Yundan Trinley, a relatively obscure Buddhist preacher based in Los Angeles and hailing from Hebei Province, China. Serving on the Association’s board as Deputy General Secretaries together with Chen Yu-ting were Pema Wangyal (1962-2016) and Wangchuk Tseten. Wangyal was an enigmatic figure, a Tibetan Scholar, educated in China who also served on the staff of the International Campaign for Tibet, financed by the U.S. State Department. Tseten belongs to a new generation of Chinese propaganda civil servants dressed as Tibetans, the founder and manager of an online platform for Chinese propaganda focusing on on Tibetan culture.

Most noteworthy however was the composition of COTA’s Honorary Council. It included Hanne Strong and Peggy Dulany Rockefeller. The former is the wife of the late Maurice Strong (1929-2015), the Canadian globalist billionaire and former member of the Rockefeller Foundation, who had been living in Beijing since the 2005 revelations of his ties to the UN’s Iraq Oil-for-Food scandal. Hanne Strong had very good relations with Chen Li-an’s family, whom she hosted in her domain of Sedona, Arizona. The latter, Peggy Dulany, is the daughter of another late globalist billionaire David Rockefeller (1915-2017), who in 1973 famously said “Whatever the price of the Chinese Revolution, it has obviously succeeded not only in producing more efficient and dedicated administration, but also in fostering high morale and community of purpose.” The Rockefellers became close with Chen Li-an’s family through the Global Philanthropists Circle (GPC) founded in 2001 by Peggy and David.

The roll of Honorary Council members did not end there. How can it be understood that also included were the senior Tibetan religious figures Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Goshir Gyaltsab and Thrangu Rinpoche? Clearly the pivotal figure was Chen Li-an and the close relations he could leverage in support of his aims. Given the closeness of their relationships with Chen Li-an, it would be unthinkable that they wouldn’t have been asked permission for their inclusion in the venture. And COTA lasted for over 5 years.

Management Board

• Yangjin Lamu (Chair)
• Yundan Trinley (Executive General Secretary)
• Pema Wangyal (Deputy General Secretary)
• Chen Yu-ting (Deputy General Secretary)
• Wangchuk Tseten (Deputy General Secretary)

Honorary Council

• Chen Li-an
• Peggy Dulaney Rockefeller
• Hanne Strong
• Duoshi Rinpoche
• Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje
• Goshir Gyaltsab
• Thrangu Rinpoche

Advisors

• Elliott Donnelley
• Adam Friedensohn (Lama Rangbar)
• Peter Chang
• Mary Phillips
• Enrico Melson