The CIA of the United States has initiated a new campaign to recruit informants in China, Iran, and North Korea, building on what it describes as a successful recruitment strategy in Russia. The agency has made available guidelines in Mandarin, Farsi, and Korean across various platforms, including X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, LinkedIn, and the Dark Web, detailing secure methods for contacting them, according to a CIA spokesperson.

“Our initiatives have proven effective in Russia, and we aim to ensure that individuals in other authoritarian nations understand that we are receptive to their outreach,” the spokesperson stated, noting that the CIA is evolving in response to heightened state oppression and global surveillance.

A video in Mandarin uploaded to YouTube, which contains only written guidance, encouraged individuals to reach out to the CIA through its official website using reliable encrypted Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or the TOR network. The message emphasized, “Your safety and wellbeing is our top priority.” It requested that individuals provide their names, locations, and contact information that do not link back to their true identities, along with any information that might be valuable to the CIA, while warning that replies are not guaranteed and may require time.

The CIA’s demand for intelligence has intensified as China enhances its collaboration with Russia and Iran while demonstrating its military capabilities in the region. Within the U.S. intelligence community, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are categorized as “hard targets,” indicating that their governments are particularly challenging to infiltrate.

Additionally, the U.S. faces complexities arising from Iran’s tensions with Israel, its nuclear ambitions, its increasing ties with Russia, and its backing of militant groups. North Korea’s nuclear weapons initiative also remains a focal point for U.S. intelligence, alongside concerns regarding alleged arms shipments from Pyongyang to Moscow in support of the conflict in Ukraine, a claim that both Moscow and Pyongyang refute.

The Russian and Chinese embassies in Washington, as well as Iran’s mission to the United Nations, did not provide immediate responses to inquiries. In 2022, the CIA initiated efforts to recruit Russian individuals by sharing Russian-language content on its social media platforms detailing secure methods to reach the agency, followed by the release of videos in 2023.