(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I have often heard that Falun Gong practitioners abroad have been harassed by spies, and some were even tricked into going to China, where they were then arrested. Below is my personal experience in encountering such spies.

In 2001, my mother was arrested in Shanghai, and was illegally sentenced to three years of imprisonment. This was all because she wanted to clarify the truth and take part in group Falun Dafa study and exercises. Then, in the beginning of 2002, I began to receive phone calls from someone whose last name was Jiang, who pretended to want to help me. Actually, however, their goal was to try to persuade me into going to Shanghai. I saw through this plot, however.

After China's government changed leaders recently, this person often contacted me. Because he realized I was not paying any attention to him, he found my relatives in Beijing and lied to them, saying that he often took care of my mother. In this way he deceived them and won their trust. Due to the persuasion of my relatives and my own curiosity to see what these people were really about, I agreed to meet this Jiang and a colleague of his in Paris.

When I met them, they were very friendly and tried to influence me with their lies. When they saw that none of their tactics were working, they tried to use my mother as leverage to convince me to cooperate with them. When I asked them what they wanted, they said that they wanted information about Falun Dafa activities, and in exchange they would release my mother. Even when I refused, they did not give up, and kept on trying to get me to reconsider their offer. After returning to China, they often threatened my relatives in Beijing, saying that they would extend my mother's sentence. This made me extremely angry.

These spies' techniques are not clever; basically it all boils down to just one word: lies. To be able to look past their tricks, we must maintain a clear mind.

Usually these spies try to work on practitioners whose relatives are jailed, because they believe that practitioners are more susceptible to their tactics.

Their methods include the following:

• Friendly talk: Before I actually met them, the spies constantly talked to me in a seemingly kind manner. However, after meeting me, under my strong questioning, they revealed their true nature.

• Patriotism: They promoted patriotism, using the ruling Party's false devotion and propaganda, turning their lies into magnificent words. This strategy often does not affect those who have lived abroad for many years.

• Using family as leverage: They put forth a large effort in trying to learn certain facts about my mother, and then attempted to make me believe that they were protecting her and helping her. Acting concerned, they were hoping to deceive me.

These spies are actually extremely pitiful. Not only are they lied to, but they are also the ones who are doing bad deeds. They made the wrong decision between righteousness and evil. As to me, they are being used by the old forces to test me, allowing me to see my attachments, but I am unwilling to see them hurting other practitioners again. In the face of genuine Dafa practitioners, all their efforts are completely useless.