The spy agency’s latest effort depicts a disillusioned mid-level officer and comes soon after the ousting of China’s top general
Just weeks after a dramatic removal of China’s top general, the CIA is moving to capitalise on any resulting discord with a new public video targeting potential informants in the Chinese military.
The US spy agency on Thursday rolled out the video depicting a disillusioned mid-level Chinese military officer, in the latest US step in a campaign to ramp up human intelligence gathering on Washington’s strategic rival.
It follows a similar effort last May that focused on fictional figures within China’s ruling Communist Party that provided detailed Chinese-language instructions on how to securely contact US intelligence.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement that the agency’s videos had reached many Chinese citizens and that it would continue offering Chinese government officials an “opportunity to work toward a brighter future together”.
Last month, China’s defence ministry announced that Zhang Youxia, second-in-command under Xi as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), was under investigation, the highest-profile removal of a senior Chinese military leader in decades.
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The short CIA video posted on social media appeared aimed at exploiting domestic political fallout from Beijing’s years-long crackdown on military corruption that has hit the upper echelons of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) beyond Zhang.
Source: News - South China Morning Post
