On Thursday, the CIA released two videos in Chinese, urging dissatisfied Chinese government insiders to share confidential information with the United States, a clear indication of its attempt to gain access to the Communist Party's inner workings.

Two videos titled "Why I Contacted CIA: To Take Control of My Fate" and "Why I Contacted CIA: For a Better Life" have been shared on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. These dramatised clips portray fictional Chinese officials secretly reaching out to the CIA, expressing disappointment in China's political system and a wish to secure a better future for their families. In one of the videos, the narrator, speaking in Mandarin, says, “As I rise within the party, I watch those above me being discarded like worn-out shoes, but now I realise that my fate was just as precarious as theirs.”

At the same time, the camera pans over an opulent dinner table surrounded by empty chairs. The man continues, “My family's fate cannot rest in their hands,” before the video shows him using a tablet to contact the CIA. It concludes with the agency’s logo and contact information on the dark web. 

The videos are part of a broader CIA effort that began last October to recruit informants in countries like China, Iran, and North Korea. The agency has shared secure ways for people to make contact and believes its messages are successfully getting past China’s tight online restrictions. “If it weren't working, we wouldn't be making more videos,” a CIA official informed Reuters.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated, “No adversary had ever posed a more formidable challenge to the US than the CCP.” He emphasised that "It is intent on dominating the world economically, militarily, and technologically". “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,” he added. 

While the Chinese embassy in Washington did not reply to a request for comments regarding the videos, it has in the past accused the United States of running a coordinated disinformation campaign against China.