中情局近期在中国加大了招募公民作为情报来源的工作力度，试图利用美国官员所称的对习近平政权愈发不满的情况来获取情报。为此，该机构在 Instagram、Facebook、LinkedIn、YouTube、Telegram 和 X 等平台上发布了使用中文说明，具体指导个人如何安全地与其公开与暗网网站联系。
中情局副总监科恩表示，“中国境内不乏能够接触关键信息并且对习近平政权感到不满的人士”。这些人士可能来自政府内部或社会各层面，他们看到了国家发展的某些问题，并因不同原因不喜欢习近平的执政方向。他们意识到，通过合作可以帮助自己的国家走上更好的发展道路。
此在线行动正值习近平采取措施将超过全球五分之一人口纳入其高度集权化的治理框架中，包括废除总统任期限制、增加对核心盟友的领导力依赖以及强化对社会的不同声音和批判的压制等举措。中国还实施了严格且持续的“零新冠”政策，这些举措对经济产生了长期影响，并引发了民众的不满情绪加剧。
尽管美国长期难以深入理解中国政府运作机制的情况并未改变，但随着中美关系中的紧张局势升级——特别是围绕台湾问题与高新技术竞争，对中国决策层的洞察需求日益增长。对此，中情局及美国其他情报机构受到了关于他们在华收集能力的广泛质疑。例如，《纽约时报》曾报道，在过去几年中，中国政府已成功打散了中情局在中国的部分间谍活动。
此外，中国近年来加大对政府部门人员、甚至包括打击针对外国间谍行为力度，并加强了对敏感信息泄露的管控。它还努力提高自身的网络安全措施和监测手段，防止情报泄露到境外。最近一次推动中情局在中国的招募行动与其在俄罗斯2022年入侵乌克兰后开展的努力相类似，在后者中公开俄语指南并鼓励当地民众向该机构提供信息。
科恩表示：“我们正在使用与冷战时相同的模式确保我们派遣能力出色、具备语言技能和专业知识的官员，并使他们活跃于前线。”他同时强调，为了确保情报来源多元化，中情局在全球范围内加强了对拥有中国背景人士的招募。这一策略与美国在冷战期间培养苏联专家的过程相呼应。
科恩提到：“我们正在与中国的决策过程进行全面竞争”，包括从欧洲、非洲、拉丁美洲到北极和南极等全球各个地区。美国正与习近平政权展开多方位的竞争，试图通过情报获取、战略联盟构建以及对新兴技术的争夺等方式影响中国政策走向。
新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：CIA Boosts Efforts to Recruit Chinese Citizens to Exploit Discontent With Xi
新闻日期：2024-10-02
原文摘要：
The Central Intelligence Agency is boosting its efforts to recruit Chinese citizens as it seeks to capitalize on what US officials say is growing discontent with President ’s rule. The agency issued Chinese-language instructions on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Telegram, and X on Wednesday, detailing how individuals can securely contact it on its public and dark web sites. “There are plenty of people who have access to information and who are disaffected from the Xi regime in China,” CIA Deputy Director said in an interview. “You’ve got people inside who see what’s happening, and for lots of different motivations fundamentally do not like the direction that Xi is taking the country and understand that there’s a path to helping their own country by working with us,” Cohen said. The online push comes as Xi has over a fifth of humanity to a degree unseen in decades, abolishing presidential term limits, packing the leadership with close allies, forcing bankers to Xi Jinping Thought and dissent. The nation also went through years of harsh Covid-Zero rules, which continue to leave a scarring effect on the economy. China’s slowdown has contributed to an uptick in . The US has struggled to gain insights into the workings of the Chinese government, with the Biden administration consistently frustrated by the on Xi’s inner circle. As China becomes more opaque, the need for insights into Xi’s decision-making is growing, especially as tensions with Washington heat up over issues like Taiwan and advanced technology. The CIA and other US intelligence agencies have faced questions about their broader collection capabilities in China. The New York Times in 2017 that Beijing had broken up CIA spying operations in the country over several years. China has also ramped up efforts in recent years to , government workers and even about foreign espionage efforts. It has gone so far as to crack down on getting into the hands of people outside the nation.The latest recruitment push in China echoes the CIA’s effort in Russia in the months after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. That drive publicized Russian-language instructions on how to contact the agency through the dark web and saw CIA produce videos encouraging Russians to volunteer information. A CIA spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, said its have been successful in Russia. The agency wants individuals in other authoritarian regimes to know it’s open for business. It also posted instructions in Korean and Farsi in a bid to recruit potential informants in North Korea and Iran. The agency’s promotion of its website on the dark web is also part of an attempt to sidestep the ubiquitous surveillance that has frustrated its attempts in recent years to develop sources who can provide insights into China’s political system.“China is a techno-authoritarian country,” Cohen said. “There’s an extraordinary amount of scrutiny, not just on our officers or Westerners who happen to be in China.”The dark web is part of the Internet that can’t be indexed by search engines and can be accessed only by specific browsers that allow anonymous activity.Cohen said the CIA is continuing efforts to bolster recruitment of Chinese nationals who leave their country, including through Cold War-style walk-ins at US embassies overseas. The recruitment effort is supported by a growing cadre of CIA China experts around the world, Cohen added, comparing this shift to the US’s cultivation of Soviet experts during the Cold War. “We are using that same model of ensuring that we are deploying capable officers that are trained both in language and their expertise,” Cohen said. “We want to ensure that they’re not all sitting at headquarters, that they are out in the field.” Those officers can also develop relationships with friendly foreign governments, Cohen said, helping to warn them of what the US sees as potential threats from Beijing. The US is “in competition across the board” with China, Cohen said. “We’re competing across all regions from Europe to Africa, Latin America, to the Arctic and the Antarctic.”
