WASHINGTON: The US CIA on Wednesday launched a new drive to recruit informants in China, Iran and North Korea, adding to what it says has been a successful effort to enlist Russians.

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The premier US spy agency posted instructions in Mandarin, Farsi and Korean on its accounts on X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, LinkedIn and the Dark Web on how to contact it securely, a CIA spokesperson said in a statement.

“Our efforts on this front have been successful in Russia, and we want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we’re open for business,” the spokesperson said, adding that the CIA was adapting to increased state repression and global surveillance.

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A Mandarin-language video posted to YouTube featuring only written instructions advised individuals to contact the CIA via its official website using trusted encrypted Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or the TOR network. “Your safety and wellbeing is our foremost consideration,” it said.

It asked for individuals’ names, locations, and contact details not associated with their real identities, along with information that could be of interest to the CIA, cautioning that responses were not guaranteed and could take time.

Liu Pengyu, a Chinese embassy spokesman, accused the US of waging “an organised and systematic” disinformation campaign against China and said that “any attempts to drive a wedge between the Chinese people and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) or to weaken their close bond will inevitably fail.”

The Russian embassy and Iran’s UN mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The CIA’s thirst for intelligence has grown as China expands cooperation with Russia and Iran and flexes its regional military muscle. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are known within the US intelligence community as “hard targets” — countries whose governments are difficult to penetrate.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2024