The CIA has released two Mandarin-language videos aimed at recruiting Chinese officials and workers as spies, appealing to those disillusioned with the Communist Party. The videos, titled 'Why I contacted the CIA: to take control of my fate' and 'Why I contacted the CIA: for a better life', were posted on YouTube on Thursday amid escalating US-China trade tensions.
One video features a narrator describing the precarious fate of party members, stating: 'As I rise within the party, I watch those above me being discarded like worn-out shoes, but now I realise that my fate was just as precarious as theirs.' Another narrator says: 'Our leaders’ failure to fulfil repeated promises of prosperity has become a well-known secret … It’s time I start working towards my own dreams.'
The CIA asks potential recruits for information on economic, fiscal, or trade policies, as well as insights from those working in defence, national security, diplomacy, science, or advanced technology. The videos conclude with encrypted contact details for the agency.
This campaign follows earlier efforts in October to recruit assets in China, Iran, and North Korea. A CIA official told Reuters that the agency is confident the videos are bypassing China's internet controls, adding: 'If it weren’t working, we wouldn’t be making more videos.' The US considers China its most serious military and cyber threat, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated: 'Our agency must continue responding to this threat with urgency, creativity, and grit.'
