The CIA just made its pitch to Chinese military officers in Mandarin, on camera, in public, and with a plot line that reads like a warning shot at the People’s Liberation Army’s internal politics. The question hanging over the rollout is simple: Is this recruitment, messaging, or both?
What You Should Know
The CIA released a Mandarin-language recruitment video portraying a fictional mid-level PLA officer who decides to contact the agency. China’s Foreign Ministry responded that it will take all necessary measures against foreign espionage activities.
The new video is part of a public-facing CIA campaign aimed at people inside China, including officials, who might be willing to share information. CIA Director John Ratcliffe has framed China as the agency’s top intelligence priority in what he has called a generational competition.
A Spy Agency Goes Cinematic, on Purpose
The CIA’s latest recruitment push does not hide behind deniable whispers. It uses a short film structure, a central character, and a storyline designed to feel familiar to its target: a competent officer watching the system reward loyalty over ability.
According to CBS News, the video depicts a fictional, mid-level PLA officer as qualified personnel get removed and replaced by political loyalists with weak military credentials. The officer then decides to reach out to the CIA, with his family and future as the emotional leverage.
This is the tradecraft twist. Instead of trying to find one person, in one place, at one time, the CIA is trying to make itself findable. The end of the video reportedly includes operational security guidance and instructions in Mandarin on how to contact the agency securely.
That decision signals two things at once. First, the CIA is betting that some portion of its audience inside China can still access, share, or rewatch the content, even with major U.S. platforms blocked. Second, it is betting that a public narrative about corruption and career sabotage is a more effective hook than ideology.
The Corruption Hook and the Power Math
The film does not have to name China’s top leadership to raise the temperature. A story about officers pushed aside for political loyalty is, by definition, about how power is allocated. It also happens to land during a period when the PLA has been roiled by leadership shakeups, including the removal of multiple senior officers in recent months, as described by CBS News.
A CIA official leaned into that overlap with a line that sounds like it was designed to be replayed: “The question to ask is, is art imitating life or life imitating art?”
The agency also framed the storyline as something broader than one man’s crisis. “The main character’s struggle represents the widely shared experience and values of those serving in the PLA,” the CIA official told CBS News.
That is an unusually direct claim for an agency that typically prefers ambiguity in public. It is also a rhetorical move that tries to separate the audience into two camps: insiders who work, citizens who hope, and elites who cash out.
CBS News reported the video is meant to highlight what the CIA describes as a growing gulf “between the Chinese elites who want what is best for their bank accounts and the Chinese citizens who want what is best for their country.”
That line does two jobs. It paints a moral contrast, and it offers a personal excuse to defect, cooperate, or leak: you are not betraying your country, you are refusing to be used by the wrong people.
Not About Xi, the CIA Says, but the Target Is Still the System
The CIA official told CBS News the campaign is not aimed at President Xi Jinping personally. Instead, the target is described as individuals inside China “who may feel deeply concerned about the direction their country is headed in but feel powerless to do anything about it.”
That framing carries a built-in contradiction. If you are telling mid-level officers that promotions are being captured by political loyalists, you are not talking about a single corrupt manager. You are talking about a model of control. You can avoid naming Xi and still describe the structure that serves him.
For Beijing, that is a distinction without much difference. A recruitment pitch that encourages officials to secretly cooperate with a foreign intelligence service is not treated as speech. It is treated as hostile action.
Beijing Answers in Public, Too
China’s response was immediate and on the record. CBS News reported that Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in Beijing that China would take “all necessary measures” against foreign espionage activities.
Lin added: “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely combat infiltration and sabotage activities of foreign anti-China forces and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.”
It is the standard language of state security, but the timing matters. The CIA publishes a recruitment video. Beijing answers with a threat of consequences. Anyone in China tempted to click through, share, or follow the instructions is being reminded that the price is not abstract.
The Metrics Mystery, and a Claim of Millions
Ratcliffe positioned the new video as a sequel, not a one-off. In a statement cited by CBS News, he said: “Last year, CIA’s Mandarin video campaign reached many Chinese citizens, and we know there are many more searching for a way to improve their lives and change their country for the better. We’re going to continue offering Chinese government officials and citizens an opportunity to work toward a brighter future together.”
The CIA declined to provide specific metrics, according to CBS News, while still claiming the earlier Mandarin-language videos “reached millions of people and inspired new sources.” The agency also said it has seen “more and more people with insights on China volunteering their services and information via our website on the dark web.”
That combination is the tell. Big numbers, no receipts. Operational claims, no measurable dashboard. It is a classic intelligence posture: signal success to encourage more participation, and keep details vague enough that adversaries cannot reverse-engineer what worked.
There is also an argument that the point of the campaign is not just to recruit. It is to force China’s security services to spend time, money, and attention chasing shadows, policing internal loyalty, and warning officials about contact risks. If so, the recruitment video is also a resource drain.
The Great Firewall, and the Bet That It Leaks Anyway
One of the most practical questions is distribution. If the audience is inside China, and major U.S. social platforms are blocked, why make the pitch in public?
The CIA officials’ answer, via CBS News, was blunt. “Their wall is imperfect,” the official said, referring to Beijing’s so-called Great Firewall.
That is less a tech claim than a political claim. In a tightly controlled information environment, even a small leak can matter, especially if it lands in the hands of people with jobs, access, and grievances. The CIA is betting that clips can be mirrored, shared through private channels, and passed along the same informal networks Beijing is constantly trying to stamp out.
What Comes Next, and What to Watch
There are two timelines now running side by side.
On the U.S. side, the CIA is trying to normalize a new kind of outreach, one that treats recruitment as a mass communications exercise as much as a clandestine operation. CBS News noted that public recruitment campaigns are an evolution in tradecraft, with the agency using cinematic online videos to reach audiences inside rival states, including Russia and Iran.
On China’s side, the state has already signaled retaliation. That could mean stepped-up counterintelligence enforcement, internal warnings to officers, public deterrence cases, or simply a louder propaganda campaign accusing Washington of infiltration.
And then there is the personal level, the one the video is built around. For any real officer who sees themselves in the character, the incentives are mixed. The CIA is offering a secret door and promising security guidance. Beijing is promising “all necessary measures.”
The campaign, in other words, is not just about recruiting sources. It is about forcing a choice in public, and daring the other side to respond.
