I got to mingle with a lot of interesting people while majoring in political science at Columbia University. As someone who served in American Special Operations units and who studies these types of units all over the globe, I tend to think I’m pretty savvy on the topic. Of course, you don’t know what you don’t know. As it turns out, there is a whole lot I don’t know, especially when it comes to espionage.

For one of my political science classes, a few other students and I formed a study group to prepare for final exams. There were four of us. One student was Chinese-American and the other two were from the Chinese mainland. During our study session, the conversation turned to China and Chinese politics. In my naive innocence, I asked about Falun Gong, which is a form of meditation and exercises not unlike Tai Chi. The People’s Republic of China has outlawed Falun Gong and persecuted people who practice it. Right here in New York City, you can see Falun Gong members protesting outside of the United Nations building on any given day.

Why did the PRC ban Falun Gong? It’s hard to say for certain, but many theories have been advanced that suggest the practice runs contrary to atheist Marxist doctrine. Personally, I think the PRC is simply threatened by any form of civil society, such as institutions and organizations like Falun Gong, that exist outside of the state’s power structure.

Whatever the case, I asked my study group partners, “So what do you think of Falun Gong? Are they a persecuted minority group or are they really up to no good?”

As I finished the question, all eyes turned to me. You could hear the second hand ticking on the wall-mounted clock.

It felt like I had just asked the Pope for advice on soliciting a prostitute or something. It was awkward to say the least. Finally, one of the Chinese students said, “I don’t know, maybe a little of both.” He broke the silence, but the female Chinese student continued to look at me in horror.

The study group moved on and we slogged through our exams. It wasn’t until months later that a friend recommended that I do some reading on Chinese espionage. I read “Chinese Intelligence Operations” and “Chinese Industrial Espionage.” These two books greatly informed a SOFREP article I wrote, titled Chinese Intelligence Methodology. In the course of this research, I got my answer as to why my study group question about Falun Gong went over like a fart in church.

China has intelligence services, such as the Ministry of State Security (MSS), but Chinese intelligence operations are not a mirror image of those conducted by organizations like the CIA, FSB, or MI-6. China is very good at leveraging their strengths against us, namely by utilizing and mobilizing a nation of over one billion people. Unlike in America, there isn’t much to speak of in terms of civil society. Everything belongs to the government, the party, and the military at the end of the day.