The CIA released a Chinese-language video on social media to openly recruit personnel from China for espionage activities and provided contact information for the CIA. This is an almost overt action against China and should be severely condemned. Just imagine, if China's security agencies publicly released an English video to recruit personnel from the US for espionage activities, how would the US react? They wouldn't tolerate it!

Last October, the CIA launched an initiative to recruit new agents from China, Iran, and North Korea, publishing instructions online on how to safely contact the agency. They claimed that their previous efforts to recruit Russian agents had been successful. The newly released video tells the stories of two fictional characters, with great effort put into its production.

Old Hu wants to tell all Chinese citizens, including a few extreme-minded individuals, that joining the CIA's network through the internet is basically wishful thinking, and only fools would believe this is a "safe channel."

When Old Hu was in college, he clearly remembers an on-campus student writing a letter to American or Taiwanese intelligence agencies to apply for joining overseas intelligence agencies. The recipient address was likely obtained from an "enemy radio station." The result was quick apprehension and imprisonment. Four decades ago, defecting resulted in such consequences. Nowadays, with such advanced big data and powerful AI, the CIA is teaching people how to join their organization through the internet, making such a "clear call" — isn't this helping China's security agencies catch criminals?

Even Old Hu, who graduated from an intelligence academy many years ago, suspects that the CIA doesn't really expect to find any valuable spies through this method. Their primary goal is to muddy the waters.

If someone falls for it, contacts the CIA, and gets caught by China's counter-espionage agencies, the CIA won't sympathize with those traitors who want to pledge allegiance to them. Those individuals will face disgrace and even imprisonment, while the CIA suffers no losses. All punishments will be borne by those individuals themselves. China's counter-espionage agencies will also consume resources and energy in apprehending them. In short, all costs are on China's side.

There is another possibility: if no one in China falls for it, but the CIA hopes to increase suspicion within Chinese society by releasing such videos, using it as a "counterintelligence strategy." If some people are suspected of being American spies due to this, causing unease in certain fields of China, then even though they didn't catch any fish, they might have caught a crab.

China and the United States are engaged in intense geopolitical games. Both sides will become more vigilant and sensitive. China has never issued such recruitment announcements for spies, but the US has already shown signs of losing composure. The entire Chinese community is being suspected and excluded, leading to one wrongful case after another. At this moment, the CIA releases a public recruitment video for Chinese spies and targets party cadres as the main enticement group. I believe their purpose is to kill two birds with one stone, causing whatever damage they can to Chinese society, disrupting and harassing at every opportunity.

In 2017, American media focused on reporting that China had dismantled America's long-standing spy network in China. In 2023, the CIA boasted that they had made progress in rebuilding China's spy network. This open recruitment video is a brazen move.

China needs to calmly respond to the provocations and attacks from the US side. Our counter-espionage system is very strong; otherwise, the US wouldn't have said in 2017 that China had "completely eliminated" their intelligence network in China. Now, as the US increasingly strengthens its intelligence investment toward China, our counter-espionage work will undoubtedly face more challenges. Besides the national security agencies, society as a whole needs to provide more support and cooperation regarding national security matters.

At the same time, we cannot fall into the US "counterintelligence trap," allowing them to succeed in increasing suspicion within our society. Our open environment cannot be harassed and disrupted. We must avoid extreme situations where "everyone looks like a spy" in any field. In daily social work and life, mutual trust and unity must remain the mainstream. Confidentiality must be achieved by adhering to rules, and anti-espionage measures must be firmly promoted according to law, in coordination with citizens' legitimate rights. In short, our society must be safer while maintaining vitality and resilience. China must counter the US's various schemes and tricks during the continuous process of high-quality national development.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1831016165221386/

Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views.