OAN Staff Brooke Mallory 2:15 PM – Thursday, May 1, 2025
Two “Hollywood-style” videos, uploaded and released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have been widely shared in an effort to entice Chinese nationals who are interested in becoming dissidents — spying for the U.S. government.
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In May 2023, former President Joe Biden’s CIA similarly published a produced recruitment video online as part of an initiative to take advantage of what officials believed was an “unprecedented” opportunity to persuade Russians to share their country’s secrets.
Meanwhile, both Mandarin-language videos run approximately three minutes in length, with the CIA aiming to identify future Chinese intelligence operatives willing to work with the United States government.
“One of the primary roles of the CIA is to collect intelligence for the president and for our policymakers,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the press. “One of the ways we do that is by recruiting assets that can help us steal secrets.”
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and X are among the CIA’s social media platforms where the videos are currently live.
Senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders are one of the target audiences that U.S. intelligence officials believe would be open to speaking with them — as many of these leaders have witnessed their coworkers being dismissed, imprisoned, or even “disappearing” completely.
At the end of the video, the viewer is told to “Grasp your fate in your hands.”
“This video explains to them how they can contact the CIA through our dark website and have an ability to improve their safety and well-being and that of their family,” Ratcliffe stated.
China is the United States’ most powerful economic and political enemy, according to Ratcliffe, who served as national intelligence director during the first Trump administration.
Meanwhile, the second recruitment video is directed toward lower-ranking officers within the Chinese Communist Party. Ratcliffe contends that these individuals often face limited prospects for career advancement, while the Party’s elite disproportionately reap the financial rewards of their efforts.
“Heaven helps those who help themselves. Your fate is in your control,” the video narrates at the end.
The CIA director expressed confidence that the videos will bypass China’s “Great Firewall” and reach their intended audience within the mainland. He also noted that a previous CIA release—Mandarin-language instructions for accessing the agency via the dark web—successfully reached millions.
The agency’s communication channel remains open, and they are urging Chinese citizens to come forward, while assuring them that all conversations will be kept strictly confidential.
“We’re moving forward and putting more distance between the United States and China early on in the Trump administration and that’s going to continue,” he noted.
Today @FoxNews reported our release of two videos in Mandarin aimed at recruiting Chinese assets.@CIADirector John Ratcliffe: “This is just one of many ways that we’re adjusting our tradecraft at the CIA.”
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