{"id":1707708,"date":"2022-10-23T07:55:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-23T11:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1707708"},"modified":"2022-10-23T09:33:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-23T13:33:44","slug":"china-seeks-to-influence-u-s-politicians-ahead-of-midterm-elections-former-intelligence-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-seeks-to-influence-u-s-politicians-ahead-of-midterm-elections-former-intelligence-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"China Seeks to Influence U.S. Politicians Ahead of Midterm Elections: Former Intelligence Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchina-seeks-to-influence-u-s-politicians-ahead-of-midterm-elections-former-intelligence-officer%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1707708&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><span>Just weeks before the midterm elections, the FBI issued a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/10\/17\/chinese-hackers-are-scanning-state-political-party-headquarters-fbi-says\/\">warning<\/a>, to some of the Democratic and Republican state party headquarters, of possible attack by Chinese hackers. The hacking might be part of Beijing\u2019s political espionage efforts or to influence\u00a0the nominees\u2019 positions on China according to Nick Eftimiades, a former senior intelligence officer and author.<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAnd we\u2019ve seen this actually come to light in a number of cases in the United States and the UK and Italy, elsewhere in Sweden, where they actually work very, very aggressively to try and shape any opinions that can be formed towards China,\u201d Eftimiades told \u201cChina in Focus\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/fbi-warns-dems-gop-about-chinese-hackers_4807927.html\">program<\/a> on NTD.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This kind of attack, he said, might be used for information collection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to the expert, the monitoring work would help them to observe which way the elections are going to go, which candidates have advantages, and party strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSo that they can better prepare for it. So they can shape\u00a0 the international environment for which they\u2019re gonna have to deal,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0<span>Eftimiades\u2019<\/span> opinion, this approach is just a portion of a broader scheme pushed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).<\/p>\n<p><span>As author of the book \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Chinese-Intelligence-Operations-Nicholas-Eftimiades\/dp\/1470077337\">Chinese Intelligence Operations<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Eftimiades pointed out that the influence operation is conducted through two formats: propaganda and covert agents.<\/p>\n<p>In relation to the first format, the regime spends billions every year to advance its propaganda through news broadcasting on thousands of different forms of media globally and its diplomacy, he said.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Covert Influence Operations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>\u201cAnd then there\u2019s a whole covert dynamic of this, where China will try and influence political leaders, business leaders, the Chinese diaspora to<\/span><span>\u00a0not <\/span><span>vote for certain candidates, for example, to assume certain positions on China,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The covert operations are coordinated by various bodies of the regime,\u00a0<span>Eftimiades<\/span> pointed out, including the China Friendship Associations, United Front Work departments, and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscc.gov\/research\/chinas-overseas-united-front-work-background-and-implications-united-states\">According<\/a> to the U.S.-CHINA Economic and Security and Review Commission, the CCP\u2019s United Front Work Department (UFWD) guides key affiliated organizations abroad to conduct influence operations targeting foreign actors and states.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey are all geared towards shifting opinion or controlling or directing foreign opinion on China,\u201dEftimiades said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He singled out the case of Christine Fang, the alleged CCP spy who, according to an Axios <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2020\/12\/08\/china-spy-california-politicians\">report<\/a>, built up an extensive network of contacts with up-and-coming politicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Encirclement Strategy\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span>\u201cOne of the more interesting aspects of China\u2019s strategy in this regard is encirclement,\u201d Eftimiades noted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With this strategy, the regime tends to exert influence on individuals around the targeted politician, rather than directly on the person, according to the expert.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They can take aim at \u201cthe academics that will be supporting that person; the cyber operations to understand who has pro- China views, and who doesn\u2019t; to a business person, to whom they will say, \u2018Look, if you really want to do business in China, you need to go back with this message.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This kind of \u201corchestrated campaign\u201d has been deployed at both local levels as well as national levels, in his opinion.<\/p>\n<h2>Self-Censorship<\/h2>\n<p>The regime has used material interest as a tool to trap American individuals into facilitating its infiltration, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was greed, greed on the part of government officials, on the part of corporate officials and, on the part of universities, who don\u2019t want to give up the the money that they\u2019re making, even if it means violating their own personal beliefs on freedom and academic freedom, and freedom of speech,\u201d<span>Eftimiades<\/span> said.<\/p>\n<p><span>Those who are lured into dealing with the regime, he pointed out,\u00a0 have to play by China\u2019s rules, which means \u201cyour liberty, your freedom as an American or in liberal democratic societies globally, is restricted \u2026 by China.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For anyone who breaks the rules, he noted, China will cut that person\u2019s access to dealings in China.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey\u2019ll cut business deals for business persons the same way they\u2019ll cut Hollywood, from showing films in the world\u2019s largest market in China, if there\u2019s anything that they find offensive,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an often imposed form of self-censorship,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-hannah-ng\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/default-user.png\" alt=\"Hannah Ng\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Hannah Ng is a reporter covering U.S. and China news. She holds a master&#8217;s degree in international and development economics from the University of Applied Science Berlin. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-tiffany-meier\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Tiffany-author-.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Meier\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tiffany Meier is a New York-based reporter and host of NTD&#8217;s &#8220;China in Focus.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just weeks before the midterm elections, the FBI issued a\u00a0warning, to some of the Democratic and Republican state party headquarters, of possible attack by Chinese hackers. The hacking might be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1707124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1707708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1707708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1707708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1707708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1707124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1707708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1707708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1707708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}