Importer Leejun Ivie had looked forward to celebrating her 41st birthday with her family in Beijing this year.
Instead, she said, she was kidnapped by Chinese authorities and interrogated for 10 hours about her Falun Gong activities in the United States.
"It's outrageous," said Ivie, a naturalized American citizen. "They started telling me what I do in America that not a lot of people know. They had to have either read my mail or listened to my phone calls. That concerns me because they spied on an American citizen."
She said government agents demanded two more meetings and in the end threatened to punish her family if she refused to spy on other Falun Gong followers in the U.S. When she tried to return to China this month, she and her fiance were deported.
The United States has formally protested Ivie's treatment to the Chinese government, said Stuart Patt, spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department.
But the Chinese deny anything happened.
"The (Chinese) Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us later that they have no record of this happening," Patt said. "Whoever they were, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs either didn't know them or they were operating outside their purview."
China in 1999 outlawed the practice of Falun Gong, which combines meditation, slow-moving exercises and a self-improvement philosophy based on Buddhism, Taoism and founder Li Hongzhi's ideas. Thousands of Chinese have been jailed for continuing to practice, and foreigners have been arrested as well.
Chinese authorities consider Falun Gong a cult, claiming followers have refused medicine, committed suicide or killed other practitioners.
Although Ivie has been active with Falun Gong groups in the United States, she said she has never been involved with activities in China.
"That's why I'm so angry, so outraged about this whole thing," she said. "I have sent materials to friends (in China) who wanted to know what Falun Gong was all about because they can't get information about Falun Gong from the Chinese. I think the Chinese people deserve to know."
But Falun Gong was the last thing on her mind when Ivie, who imports Asian furniture, decided to visit China this year.
"I was just visiting my family," she said. "I left China 14 years ago and I lost a lot of contacts there."
Ivie arrived in Beijing on Jan. 20 and celebrated the Chinese New Year on Jan. 22 at her parents' home. Her mother practices Falun Gong and taught Ivie about it during a visit to the U.S. seven years ago.
But about 3 p.m. Jan. 24, her birthday, she was riding in a car with family members when she noticed a black sedan was following them.
"All of a sudden, three cars cornered us against a cement wall, and the entire street flooded with unidentified people, and I see my sister and my brother-in-law dragged out of the car," she said.
"They didn't say a word. In a blink of an eye, my car was hijacked."
The kidnappers whisked her to Daxing Hotel, about 15 minutes away. There, security agents interrogated her into the night about the purpose of her trip and her involvement with the Falun Gong movement.
"They wanted to do a body search, do a search of my purse and threatened to ransack my parents' house," Ivie said. "They were looking for anything related to Falun Gong so they can accuse me of violating Chinese law."
They also told her what they knew of her activities in the United States.
Ivie's sister and brother-in-law were questioned at the hotel until 7:30 p.m., the same time other agents went to her parents' home to pick up her brother to interrogate him.
Ivie and her brother were released about 2 a.m.
A few days later Ivie called her fiance, investor Jim Taylor, 59. They spend winters in Avon and the warmer months in Saratoga, N.Y. Taylor hired American attorney, Patrick Norton, in Beijing.
"I was upset," Taylor said. "I was not surprised that they had spies on Falun Gong followers here. I was surprised at the extent of their knowledge."
He then flew to China.
"My concern was to make sure that Leejun was able to get out of the country."
While visiting Norton on Jan. 28, Ivie received a call demanding she return to the hotel for more questioning. She brought Norton with her, even though she was told it wouldn't do any good.
"(The agent) said, 'It's no use to hire an American attorney because they don't know Chinese law or the Chinese situation,' " Ivie recalled.
"Then he turned around and said, 'It's no use to hire a Chinese attorney, because they are afraid of me and afraid of my agency.' "
Once at the hotel, the two were separated.
"They tried to brainwash him that Falun Gong was not good for China," she said. "During the two hours of my interrogation, they were trying to convince me that I was violating Chinese law."
Ivie said an agent also demanded that she sign a statement, promising that she would limit her Falun Gong activities in the U.S. and report back every time she returned to China.
She refused.
"They wanted to know about Falun Gong activities in America," Ivie said. "They wanted names, they wanted to know what they do. They also gave me names and asked about them, but I told them I don't know them.' "
After two hours, she was released. But on Feb. 2, another meeting was ordered.
"I said I was not going to the meeting because I have nothing to talk about," Ivie said.
"He got very angry on the phone. He said, 'Unless you spy on our behalf on other Falun Gong practitioners in America, we'll deny every visa to China for the rest of your life.' "
She said the agent gave her three months to consider the offer.
"If I decide not to, they will retaliate against me," she said. "He said, 'We will make your family (in China) suffer.' "
Traumatized, Ivie left China three days early on Feb. 3.
"I have bad dreams about it," Ivie said. She tried to return to China Saturday, but both she and her fiance were turned away.
Since her return, Ivie has sought help from elected officials.
Lawrence Pacheco, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Boulder, said his office has sent an inquiry to the U.S. ambassador.
"The embassy is going to deliver a formal diplomatic note in the near future to protest her treatment," Pacheco said. "They have been in contact with her in the U.S. and are willing to assist her in any way possible."
She said she was also promised help from U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard's office, but representatives of the Colorado Republican would not comment.
Ivie met recently with state Rep. Frank Weddig, D-Aurora, who sponsored a resolution last year condemning the Chinese government's treatment of Falun Gong practitioners.
"I was appalled that she ran into these problems," Weddig said. "It's always beyond belief for that kind of mistreatment to occur. It's pure and outright intimidation. I think it's appropriate to speak up at the state level."
Earlier this month, Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, introduced another resolution that condemns various forms of Chinese oppression, including that of Falun Gong followers.
"China has become a major trading partner with the U.S., and we can use the leverage of our economic relationship with China to bring about reform," Tupa said.