CIA shares videos that lure informants from China, Iran and North Korea – Firstpost

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released an instructional video attempting to recruit informants in China, North Korea and Iran. The video was shared by the agency on Wednesday on its official pages on X, YouTube, Instagram, Telegram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Dark Web, with videos in Mandarin, Korean and Farsi.

“The CIA provides instructions in multiple languages ​​on how to contact us safely,” the agency said in a statement. The Mandarin video was over two minutes long and only offered written instructions to reassure potential applicants that “your safety and well-being remain our top priority.”

The video also mentioned that “you know your situation best, so we ask that you take the appropriate measures to protect yourself” and asked potential whistleblowers to make contact via “a computer or network that cannot be associated with your identity.”

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pic.twitter.com/6ZU3rhGzWd

– CIA (@CIA) October 2, 2024

China reacts

In an email to the South China Morning Post (SCMP)Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, warned against “any attempts to drive a wedge between the Chinese people and the CCP.” [Chinese Communist Party] or weakening their close bond will inevitably fail.”

He stressed that the Chinese people have “overcome numerous challenges with resilience and perseverance” to become the world's second largest economy. Interestingly, the recruitment effort follows a January CIA recruitment effort seeking Russian spies to work as double agents.

The campaign included a dramatic video shared by the organization across all social media platforms. At the time, CIA Director William Burns said he viewed the initiative as a “rare opportunity” to engage with Russians disillusioned with Moscow's foreign policy. In response, the Kremlin dismissed the video, reminding the CIA that X, formerly known as Twitter, has been banned in Russia since 2022 – the same year Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a CIA spokesman said on Wednesday Reuters: “Our efforts on this front have been successful in Russia, and we want to make sure people in other authoritarian regimes know we are open for business.” The latest video came as the CIA struggles to maintain ties with its spies in China to restore. They are still recovering from the damage after 20 informants were caught in the country nearly a decade ago.

But the agency's deputy director, David Cohen, said China's economic downturn and President Xi Jinping's consolidation of power were an opportune time to seek new informants. “There are many people with access to information who are disillusioned with the Xi regime,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying on Wednesday.

With input from agencies.