In an ultra-provocative and quite bold move set against the backdrop of the growing trade war following Trump's tariffs, the Central Intelligence Agency on Thursday released two high quality social media videos inviting disillusioned Chinese officials to spy for the United States.
The Mandarin-language videos were published across several platforms, and are clearly well-produced cinematic vids that clearly a lot of planning and thought went into, akin to similar videos issued in recent years urging Russians to spy.
"Today, the CIA released Mandarin-language videos aimed at recruiting Chinese officials to steal secrets," CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement. He has vowed to make China a top priority for the agency's intelligence gathering.
Each video runs over two minutes long and has a fast-moving plot line in the style of popular 'mini-movies'.
"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.
The CIA chief added, "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 videos seem aimed at disgruntle CCP officials who are tired of corruption:
One video aims to appeal to senior Communist Party officials who live in perpetual fear of being snapped up by Xi’s seemingly endless crackdown on corruption and disloyalty. The campaign has punished millions of high-flying officials and low-ranking cadres alike, shaking government agencies, the military and state-owned companies.
"As I rise within the party, I watch those above me get discarded like worn-out shoes, one after another. But now, I realize that my fate is just as precarious as theirs," the narrator says, as a Chinese official and his wife walk into a lavish dinner with Chinese government agents tailing him.
Watch: below is the first video which was released to CIA media channels on Thursday...
"It’s all too common for someone to suddenly vanish without a trace. What I fear most is that my family’s fate is tied to my own. I must prepare an escape route," the narration continues, suggesting disloyal officials quickly get 'disappeared'.
A second video focuses more on the youth and the corrupt, luxurious lifestyle of Chinese bosses. Beijing didn't immediately respond, and typically doesn't speak on intelligence issues, even when it comes to foreign adversaries.
The new CIA recruitment ads are being mocked in both Russian and Chinese media...
CIA releases recruiting vids in Mandarin, tells potential turncoats to ‘take the first step’
— RT (@RT_com) May 1, 2025
Offers Chinese officials a path out of ‘hardship and toil’
FLASHBACK: China identified/arrested/executed every CIA spy in country in 2010
Will anyone take the risk? pic.twitter.com/qnaDtfXiD0
Both videos actually end with scenes of the Chinese protagonists reaching out to the CIA on the agency’s website via secure apps, according to agency instructions.
Nikkei Asia meanwhile writes that the campaign "has been met with derision in China" given also that "the clips are narrated in what some viewers described as awkward Mandarin." Chinese government officials, however, likely just got a little more paranoid.
