In light of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s current severe military purge, the Central Intelligence Agency clearly recognizes the need for more human intelligence to counter China’s pervasive espionage efforts and other efforts targeting the U.S.
On Feb. 12, the CIA unveiled a new recruitment video in the Mandarin language on YouTube, targeting Chinese military officers.
WorldNetDaily spoke to James Olson, former CIA chief of counterintelligence, who described the release of the video as “very positive.” Having served for more than 30 years, primarily overseas in clandestine operations, Olson has long advocated that U.S. intelligence agencies adopt a more “aggressive” approach in their recruitment efforts, especially concerning Russia and China.
The 1-minute-and-35-second video depicts a fictional, mid-ranking officer of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) struggling with corrupt leadership. He observes the dismissal of qualified officers who are supplanted by politically loyal individuals devoid of military credentials, which then drives him to contact the CIA.
Olson argued that the recruitment video could not have come at a better time. This year, Xi launched a sweeping purge of the PLA, removing high-ranking generals such as Zhang Youxia, the highest officer under him, and Gen. Liu Zhenli, another senior military officer.
This unprecedented action against Xi’s own military signals a deep and ongoing instability in China’s armed forces, said Olson. “Now more than ever, there have to be some disgruntled, disillusioned, disaffected Chinese officials – and we need these human sources.”
“This is the time to go after them and give them a safe channel to contact us,” he added. Despite this worthy goal, Olson said Chinese counterintelligence is very formidable and might deter individuals from the East Asian nation from reaching out to the CIA.
However, he added, “Chinese officials stationed abroad can more easily establish secure contact with the CIA.” Considering that major U.S. social media platforms are restricted by the Chinese regime, the distribution of the video overseas might represent the most promising option for success.
“PLA officers, diplomats and intelligence officers overseas are a prime target of this operation,” Olson said, adding: “Human intelligence is the name of the game.”
“We can collect certain things through signals intelligence and through imagery intelligence,” he explained, “but we need human resources. Nothing can replace the human source, the person who is inside the Chinese establishment, who knows their intentions, who knows their capabilities.”
Olson admitted, “This is a great initiative. It’s in their face and it’s going to make them very, very angry, but that’s too bad.” In conclusion, he said, “Chinese espionage operations in the United States are massive, and they’re pervasive. It’s about time we gave them a little bit of payback.”
Olson is the author of the book “To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence.” In it, he admits: “If I were to start my CIA career all over again, I would try to get into our China program, learn Mandarin, and become a Chinese counterintelligence specialist. China is without question the number one counterintelligence threat facing the United States.”
