The aim was to circulate stories to turn the Chinese people against their government. In China, like Singapore, citizens are generally supportive of their leadership.
“The CIA created a small team of operatives who used bogus internet identities to spread negative narratives about Xi Jinping’s government while leaking disparaging intelligence to overseas news outlets,” Reuters said, after speaking to three former US officials. It did not specify which news media outlets, or whether Reuters itself printed the reports.
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CLANDESTINE OPERATION
In the CIA clandestine program, which began in 2019, the team spread “allegations that members of the ruling Communist Party were hiding ill-gotten money overseas,” the sources told Reuters.
The agents also spread tales which “slammed as corrupt and wasteful China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which provides financing for infrastructure projects in the developing world."
The BRI has been credited as the biggest single contributor to helping the United Nations reach its sustainability goals, and is said to have lifted millions out of poverty in multiple countries.