The purges within China’s PLA senior hierarchy which have taken place over the past 18 months have created a great deal of uneasiness among the mid-level officers of the PLA who have seen their patrons be summarily walked out the door. In China, as one can imagine, trust is a brittle currency, especially when Xi’s regime is known to eat its own. The insider risk managers within the PLA must be apoplectic as they witness their senior most colleagues evaporate and the rank and file become noticeably more nervous. It is in times like this when we see the individual shift from loyalty to survival. The CIA has thrown a lifeline to those who wish to make a deal.
The Signal: “To Save the Future”
The latest tool in this “deal-making” effort arrived on February 12, with the release of the CIA’s most targeted recruitment video to date: “The Reason to Step Forward: To Save the Future.” This isn’t a wide net being tossed into the sea; it is a spear-gun aimed at the mid-level officer corps. A video which has been viewed over 6.5 million times as of February 15. At the conclusion of the video the viewer is provided with the onion address within the TOR project to affect secure contact.
The video features a fictional officer realizing that his “leaders are only protecting their own pockets” while his family faces an uncertain future. The narrator’s hook digs into the visceral nerves of those left behind following the current purge: “Anyone with leadership ability will inevitably be feared and ruthlessly eliminated.” There is nothing subtle about the CIA word choice, it is a direct reference to the disappearance of two key military officers. General Zhang Youxia was the first-ranked Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, while General Liu Zhenli was the Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department of the CMC. Both officers “disappeared” on January 24, 2026. Culturally, the PLA was and is very much a patron-based environment, and a good number of mid-level officers just lost their top-cover.
The Contrast: “Dave” vs. “The Officer”
A look back at the last decade reveals how much the tradecraft has matured. In 2016, Beijing’s counter-intelligence effort was the “Dangerous Love” (Wéixiǎn de àiqíng) campaign. It was “Dave” a red-headed foreigner seducing a naive civil servant. It was a cartoonish appeal to lust and xenophobia.
The current video, a fifth in a series of videos which began in 2025 targeting China, isn’t at all like the CI training cartoon China pushed upon their citizens in 2016, rather the CIA has cut to the chase and is promising a way to save a family from a “madman.” By shifting the leverage point from greed or lust to paternal protection, the CIA is targeting the core of the human frailty when an officer realizes their state no longer aligns with their personal survival. In other words, the video signals, the PLA officer is on his own.
The Reaction from Beijing
China’s response has been a predictably loud chorus of “annihilation” rhetoric, signaling that the CIA’s message is not only effective, it is cutting to the quick:
- Lin Jian, Foreign Ministry Spokesman: “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely combat infiltration and sabotage activities of foreign anti-China forces… the schemes of anti-China forces will not succeed.”
- Official State Media: Labeled the video a “naked political provocation,” accusing Washington of “openly deceiving and luring Chinese personnel to surrender.”
When trust evaporates, opportunity arrives
Human intelligence networks are built on the debris of broken trust. The CIA is betting that internal volatility has created a demographic of “disgruntled” PLA personnel who no longer trust their own hierarchy and thus are willing to break what little trust remains and see what the CIA has to offer. The Agency is counting on these officers to step out from behind the curtain and, in the spirit of Monty Hall, decide it is time to make a deal.
