As Xi Jinping Purges His Commanders, CIA Sees Opening In Beijing's Barracks

Weeks after China's top military general was removed, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States released a new Chinese-language video to appeal to disillusioned People's Liberation Army officers.

The agency's video is seen as an attempt to recruit spies in the country, a move likely to infuriate Beijing. 

CIA's New Video

Titled “Save the Future”, the video was posted on YouTube and other social media platforms nine months after the CIA first published Chinese-language videos to help recruitment, Financial Times reported. 

In the clip, the narrator is a fictional mid-level military officer disheartened by the condition in the country. He laments, “The only thing our party leaders are interested in defending is their own pockets”.

Although the CIA has not directly linked the video to the recent purges in China, the clip was posted two weeks after President Xi Jinping removed General Zhang Youxia, who served as his second-in-command on the powerful Central Military Commission, and General Liu Zhenli, another top member of the CMC. The removal followed dozens of similar purges of top PLA generals in recent years and was the most serious removal of top military officials since the time of Mao Zedong.

What The CIA Said On The Video

The video shows the narrator “making the difficult decision to stay true to his values and forge a better path for his family by contacting the CIA,” a CIA official told CNN.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency was “going to continue offering Chinese government officials and citizens an opportunity to work toward a brighter future together.”

The intelligence agency has said that these videos have led to the recruitment of new intelligence sources inside China.

American officials say China is the biggest strategic threat facing the US today, adding that the government has historically proven to be one of the most difficult targets to gather intelligence on. 

US Position On China 

During his confirmation hearing last year, Ratcliffe highlighted that China would be a top priority for the agency. The CIA believes it has an opportunity to potentially expand its presence in Beijing, partly by exploiting Xi's intensifying crackdown on the country's military leadership. This is part of the CIA's attempt to rebuild its network in China after the US lost a string of spies in Beijing as part of a two-year counterintelligence campaign starting in 2010.

China's Recent Purge

Since 2023, Beijing has ousted or put over 20 senior military officials under investigation. Now, US officials think Xi Jinping may be consolidating his power even more with Zhang Youxia's removal.

Since coming to power in 2012, President Xi has launched waves of anti-corruption campaigns that critics say have been used to remove political rivals, the BBC reported.

Speaking in a virtual address on Tuesday, Xi made a rare reference to the public crackdown and stated that the past year had been "unusual and extraordinary", adding that the army had "undergone revolutionary tempering in the fight against corruption".

The remarks, part of Xi's annual Chinese New Year greetings to the PLA, were the first references to corruption in his annual greeting since 2022.