In 2019, two years after taking office as US president, Donald Trump authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to launch a covert campaign on Chinese social media aimed at turning public opinion in China against the government. Reuters news agency, former US officials with direct knowledge of this “top secret” operation, reports Agerpres.

Three former officials told Reuters that the CIA created a small team that used fake online identities to spread negative narratives about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government while leaking disparaging information to foreign media.

He learned about this operation, which began in 2019, for the first time.

Over the past decade, China has rapidly expanded its global footprint, forging military pacts, trade agreements and business partnerships with developing countries.

A CIA team has accused members of the Chinese Communist Party of hiding ill-gotten gains abroad and discredited China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which provides funding for infrastructure projects in developing countries, as corrupt and wasteful, sources told Reuters. .

Two former officials said the effort in China was aimed at stoking paranoia among senior leaders, forcing the Chinese government to spend resources tracking intrusions into Beijing’s tightly controlled Internet. “I wanted them to chase ghosts,” explained one of them.

Chelsea Robinson, a spokeswoman for the CIA, declined to comment on the existence, goals or impact of the influence program.

A Chinese foreign ministry official said news of the CIA operation shows that the US government is using the public space and media platforms as a weapon to spread false information and manipulate international public opinion.

According to Reuters sources, the CIA operation was a response to China’s years of aggressive covert efforts to increase its global influence.