Donald Trump gave the CIA the “green light” to launch a secret campaign on Chinese social media aimed at trying to turn public opinion in the country against the political authorities in Beijing, according to an investigation. mentioned This Thursday by Reuters. The news agency obtained and confirmed this information from three former US intelligence employees.
The operation, according to Reuters, was launched in 2019, when Trump had been president for two years, and involved a “small team” of operatives who used fake online identities to “spread negative narratives” about Xi Jinping’s government, as they spread them. Insulting information to foreign media.
The covert campaign allegedly spread “information” that Communist Party members who are part of the Chinese government were hiding illicitly obtained money abroad, and promoted allegations of corruption in the financing of Chinese initiatives. , such as the Silk Road.
Reuters notes that although the US authorities refused to provide specific details about these operations, they stated that “the insulting narratives were based on facts,” although they were secretly published by agents under false camouflage. The news agency said the efforts inside China were aimed at stoking “paranoia” among senior local leaders, forcing their government to spend resources pursuing online intrusions that Beijing tightly controls, two former officials said. “We wanted them to chase ghosts,” said one such customer.
