CIA hopes cinematic videos will persuade Chinese to spy for U.S.

The CIA on Thursday released two social media videos inviting disillusioned Chinese officials to spy for the United States, seeking to take advantage of government corruption and repression in China. 

The cinematic, Mandarin-language videos released across multiple platforms resemble recruiting videos the C.I.A. agency has produced in the past few years aimed at encouraging Russians to share secrets with the U.S. Officials say the Russian-language videos have proved successful. 

Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to make China a top priority for the CIA’s intelligence gathering, and he cited the videos as the latest example of that effort.

“Today, the CIA released Mandarin-language videos aimed at recruiting Chinese officials to steal secrets,” Ratcliffe said in a statement.

“No adversary in the history of our Nation has presented a more formidable challenge or capable strategic competitor than the Chinese Communist Party,” he said, adding: “Our Agency must continue responding to this threat with urgency, creativity, and grit, and these videos are just one of the ways we are doing this.”

The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Six months ago, the CIA released a text-only video in Mandarin explaining how to safely reach out to the CIA using the “dark web,” a part of the internet only accessible with specialized software. The video was viewed 900,000 times, agency officials said. 

Although it is difficult to speak out because of China’s authoritarian government, more Chinese are volunteering to share information via the dark web, a CIA official said.

“If it wasn’t working, we wouldn’t be making more videos,” the official said. “We want Chinese citizens to know we always have an open door to them.”

The CIA official said the agency is interested in a wide variety of information from China beyond traditional espionage, including advanced science, military and cyber technology, as well as data and foreign policy secrets.

Appealing to party officials

In one of the videos, a young man portrayed as a junior Chinese Communist Party official dutifully accompanies a more senior official who is trying on new suits and shopping for an expensive watch. The junior official narrates the video, sharing his frustration with the wealth gap between the party elite and the rest of Chinese society.

“We dedicate a lifetime, but they are the ones to benefit,” he says. “We’re taught that by following the rules and working hard, we can change our lives for the better. But why is that only a few people can enjoy that kind of happiness?”

The junior official laments that the party promised prosperity for all, “but the gains of our collective efforts are indulged by a select few,” and he eventually concludes he “must forge my own path.”

As dramatic music builds, he walks out of his modest apartment. “The hardest part of a journey is the first step. It’s time I start working toward my own dreams,” he says as he taps a link on his phone to secretly contact the CIA. 

In a second video, a well-dressed senior party official attends a formal dinner while sensing his colleagues are maneuvering against him. He worries that he could share the fate of his comrades who have been ousted from power. 

“It is easy to become a memory,” the official says. “And much too commonplace to just disappear.”

He says he cannot allow his family’s fate to rest in the hands of party officials and predicts that “the whispers will grow louder.”

The official opts for “another way” for the sake of his family and contacts the CIA over a secure portal on his phone. “No matter what my fate will bring, my family will know a good life,” he says.

In February, Russia responded to the CIA’s Russian-language recruitment videos with its own in an attempt to persuade American “patriots” to share secrets with Russian spy services.  

U.S. officials have warned that Chinese and Russian intelligence officials hope to take advantage of the Trump administration’s reductions in the federal workforce. Their hope is to recruit employees of the CIA and other U.S. spy agencies who were recently offered buyouts to spy for Beijing and Moscow.