Hong Kong
CNN
–
The CIA released two new videos aimed at guiding Chinese officials to spy on the US, drawing the cruel anti-corruption horrors of disillusionment and leader Xi Jinping’s state amid China’s vast bureaucracy.
The refined clip, filmed in the Mandarin with Chinese subtitles, is the latest effort by US spy agencies to increase intelligence reporting agencies in China, and is seen by consecutive administrations as a top strategic rival and military threat to the US.
China’s intelligence agency has also launched a highly public campaign over the past two years on social media that warns citizens against spying on foreign countries and paying attention to attempts to spy on them.
CIA director John Ratcliffe has pledged to expand the agency’s focus to Beijing, pledging to make the threat posed by China a top priority.
Last October, the CIA released a text video in Chinese with step-by-step instructions on how to safely contact your agency online. This was part of a broader willingness to recruit new informants in China, Iran and North Korea.
The latest video posted on the CIA social media accounts is much more refined than last year’s production. Each one runs for more than two minutes longer, and is delivered in a mini-movie style with background music like plot lines, narration and suspense.
One video is intended to appeal to senior Communist officials who live in perpetuity of being drunk on Xi’s seemingly endless crackdown on corruption and dishonesty. The campaign has similarly punished millions of high-flying staff and low-ranking executives, shaking government agencies, military and state-owned businesses.
“I get up inside the party and see the people above me being dumped like worn shoes one after the other. But now I realize that my destiny is just as unstable as theirs.”
“It’s too common for someone to suddenly disappear without traces. What I fear most is that the fate of my family is connected to myself. I have to prepare an escape route,” he says.
Other videos take advantage of the growing disillusionment among young Chinese people. As the economy slows, some people have come to realize that no matter how hard or long they work, privileged, wealthy, and powerful lives remain out of reach.
It features a young government worker who is disillusioned with his career and life, attending a boss who lives a luxurious life perfect for a tailor-made suit and expensive watch.
He attends a tough political self-criticism session, eats a poor take-out lunch, falls behind government reports, and returns to his small apartment where he lives with his parents.
“From an early age, the party has taught us that we have a bright future as long as we eagerly follow the path laid out by our leaders. The sky that was intended for everyone to share is enjoyed by only a few people, and we have no choice but to train our own path,” he says. “I refused to lie flat!”
In both videos, the main character ends with a scene where he contacts the CIA on the agency’s website. Senior Party officials feel at ease that no matter what his future holds, his family can still enjoy a good life. Young government workers are excited to take the first step towards building their dreams.
Chinese authorities, who are on the way to a five-day holiday, have not responded to CIA videos. CNN contacted China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
The CIA is confident that the video has penetrated China’s “great firewall” of internet censorship and reaches its intended audience, Reuters reported.
“If that wasn’t working, we wouldn’t make any more videos,” a CIA official told Reuters, adding that China is the agency’s number one priority in a “really generational competition” between the US and China.
By Friday afternoon, China’s state-controlled media had not reported on the video, but they have been attracting limited attention to the country’s highly regulated social media. Several posts mention the video in writing using one shared screenshot. However, the video itself has not been widely shared so far.
“The content in the video is totally ridiculous and of course you can’t post it (here),” 300 likes! Please read Weibo’s post with.
Another user wrote: “Their impure motives are self-evident. The United States cannot shake us in a trade war, so they are trying to undermine us from within. The imperialists will never stop planning with China.
The CIA’s propaganda campaign in China is due to Beijing’s own spy agency offering a large public profile in recent years. The once infamous, secret national security ministry has ordered massive followers on China’s social media, with almost-day commentary, short videos and even comic strips warnings about ubiquitous threats to the country.
When former CIA chief Bill Burns revealed in a foreign journal article last year that the agency had allocated more funds and resources to gather information about China and recruit more Chinese speakers, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was grateful for reminding them that “American spies are everywhere and are infiltrating everything.”
