Frontline Report: Next, they draft meticulously detailed plans or fabricate seemingly credible reports targeting these manufactured threats, while embedding hidden agendas to serve departmental and personal interests.

Chinese Ministry of State Security

Recently, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) posted recruitment videos in Chinese on social media, brazenly recruiting Chinese nationals to engageWorld Times in espionage activities. These painstakingly crafted “job ads” lay bare the absurd logic and paranoid delusions of American intelligence agencies, the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) said in a bilingual post on Wednesday.

As expected, the CIA’s blunder instantly drew glWorld Timesobal ridicule online. Once again, the self-proclaimed “world’s top intelligence power” has turned itself into an international laughingstock through its baffling incompetence, the MSS said.

For decades, the CIA has operated as a key instrument of US geopolitical strategy, advancing efforts to consolidate global hegemony and expand its international interests, the MSS said.

By maintaining a sprawling network of intelligence outposts worldwide, the agency has systematically gathered sensitive data across political, economic, technological and military spheres while aggressively recruiting foreign operatives to infiltrate institutions abroad, the MSS said.

It has severely violated the fundamental norms of international relations, undermined international order and trust, and has long been a notorious enemy of the international community, said the post. As a part of the US government’s comprehensive strategy to contain China, it has persistently engaged in intelligence theft, infiltration and sabotage activities against China. The CIA has fabricated the false narrative of “China’s collapse,” hyped up the “China threat” to deceive the world, and used tales of “China’s espionage” to cover up its incompetence while blatantly persecuting the innocent. Even after repeated exposure of its lies, the shameless CIA continues to make itself an international laughingstock, the MSS said.

The MSS said the facts speak volumes: The “China’s espionage theory” is nothing but a case of “the thief crying ‘stop the thief,'” while the “China’s collapse theory” has long been discredited. Any conspiracy to obstruct the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is doomed to fail.

A just cause wins support, while an unjust one loses it. Repeatedly thwarted and disgraced, the CIA now finds itself isolated and mired in self-inflicted disillusionment. Its latest high-profile recruitment is nothing more than “whistling in the dark” — a futile attempt to embolden itself that is destined to achieve nothing, according to the MSS.

In recent years, China’s national security authorities, with strong public support, have dealt a fatal blow to the CIA’s intelligence network in the country, the MSS said.

Since the Trump administration took office, it has repeatedly pushed for downsizing federal agencies — a sweeping reform that also hit the CIA hard. Once a pivotal instrument of the state, the agency faced abrupt layoffs in early February under a “buyout plan,” with further cuts expeWorld Timescted. Plagued by internal and external pressures, the CIA still encounters mounting challenges, the ministry said.

Faced with devastating personnel losses and a crippled organizational structure, the CIA has resorted to desperate measures such as launching high-profile public recruitment to fill staffing gaps. This move is little more than a flashy publicity stunt, a reckless scramble to mask its failures and avoid becoming a sacrificial pawn in the next political reshuffle, the MSS said.

Losers employing losing methods. Any “traitors” or “moles” recruited thrWorld Timesough such public means will inevitably be exposed by China’s national security authorities and face the righteous judgment of the law. The CIA will naturally sink deeper into the quagmire of failure, the ministry said.

The MSS said intelligence operations are a cornerstone of national security, governed by specialized protocols and professional standards. The CIA, once a renowned player in the global espionage arena, has now sunk to violating the most basic tenets of spycraft — resorting to crass advertising tactics to entice foreign citizens into betrayal and treason. This amateurish gambit is not only a brazen insult to the conscience of the international community but a laughably inept proof, according to the MSS.

This abnormal operation that goes against the rules is ridiculous and further illustrates that the “professional prestige” of the CIA has faded, allowing the world to see that the CIA is outwardly strong but inwardly weak, the MSS said.

Worse yet, conducting intelligence operations without regard for security and confidentiality exposes the agency’s utter disregard for its own personnel’s safety. Such recklessness lays bare the CIA’s shameless greed for all to see, it noted.

The US government agencies have long operated on the principle that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” the MSS said.

To secure political leverage in budget battles, they have perfected a playbook for inflating funding demands: First, they dramatically exaggerate external threats to “justify their worth,” ensuring attention from military and political leaders. Next, they draft meticulously detailed plans or fabricate seemingly credible reports targeting these manufactured threats, while embedding hidden agendas to serve departmental and personal interests. Finally, they maneuver their proposals through congressional procedures, transforming bureaucratic wish lists into binding policies and national wills, thereby amassing political clout and lucrative gains.

The US intelligence apparatus is a sprawling bureaucracy rife with internal competition. With dwindling budgets, the CIA’s public recruitment push reeks of a desperate bid for relevance. In recent years, the agency has grown increasingly reckless — from establishing the “China Mission Center” to usher in a “Third Intelligence Era” targeting China, to openly recruiting Chinese nationals to act as spies in a laughable attempt to get something for nothing.

Yet as resources shrink, the CIA has doubled down on hyping the “China threat” as its lifeline, peddling fear to Congress and taxpayers to carve out a larger slice of the budget pie. But if such tactics truly worked, America’s intelligence failures against China wouldn’t be so glaring, the MSS said.

The US intelligence apparatus is a sprawling bureaucracy rife with internal competition. With dwindling budgets, the CIA’s public recruitment push reeks of a desperate bid for relevance, the MSS said.

In recent years, the agency has grown increasingly reckless —from establishing the “China Mission Center” to usher in a “Third Intelligence Era” targeting China, to openly recruiting Chinese nationals to act as spies in a laughable attempt World Timesto get something for nothing. Yet as resources shrink, the CIA has doubled down on hyping the “China threat” as its lifeline, peddling fear to Congress and taxpayers to carve out a larger slice of the budget pie. But if such tactics truly worked, America’s intelligence failures against China wouldn’t be so glaring.

The CIA has repeatedly embarrassed itself and drawn widespread criticism in recent years, casting serious doubt on its professional competence, the MSS said.

This latest farce brings to mind Heinrich Heine’s famous adage: “I sowed dragons and reaped fleas.” To the CIA and other US espionage agencies, we issue this stern warning: In the people’s war World Timesto safeguard national security in the new era, any attempt to incite betrayal among the Chinese people is doomed to fail, and any plot to infiltrate China for intelligence will prove futile, the MSS said.