The video is expected to resonate well with Chinese military personnel amid the internal turmoil caused by the purge, analysts say.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a video in Mandarin Chinese on Feb. 12 to recruit Chinese military officers as informants less than a month after the dramatic takedown of the Chinese regime’s top generals.
Analysts told The Epoch Times that the message will resonate well with Chinese military personnel, especially given the timing, as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping’s purge of top generals has caused widespread discontent among the Chinese military.
The CIA has launched a new recruitment advertisement titled “Why we step forward: to save the future” on social media platform X and on YouTube, targeting potential informants in the CCP’s military. The video garnered millions of views in just a few days.
It’s the latest move by the U.S. spy agency to intensify its intelligence gathering against the Chinese communist regime, following Xi’s purge of Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli, a member of the Central Military Commission and chief of the Joint Staff Department, which was officially announced on Jan. 24.
The new video offers a glimpse into the current state of the Chinese military from the perspective of a fictional mid-level CCP military officer, highlighting the domestic political repercussions of the military purges.
“Their power is built on countless lies,” the fictional officer says in the video, referring to CCP leadership. “But now these walls of lies are gradually crumbling, leaving us to clean up the mess. Anyone with leadership qualities is bound to be subject to suspicion and ruthlessly eliminated.”
This video was released less than a month after Zhang’s downfall, and directly references the instability and anxiety in the military after his arrest.
“These people who have never experienced war are eager to throw us into battles,” the fictional officer continues, clearly referring to Xi versus Zhang and Liu.
Both Zhang and Liu participated in China’s war with Vietnam in 1979, making them the only two generals in the CCP with actual combat experience.
Various departments of the Central Military Commission and major CCP military commands have been silent about Xi’s purge of the two top generals—unlike previous incidents in which they expressed support almost immediately through official statements. Analysts say the unusual silence indicates that the situation is not settled and that dissent is growing within the military.
At the end of the video, driven by his personal belief as a professional soldier to “defend the people and safeguard the motherland,” and seeking a better future for his daughter, the officer passed intelligence to the CIA.
The Chinese regime reacted angrily to the video, saying it will take measures against foreign espionage.
By Alex Wu
