WASHINGTON – The FBI has held a secret press conference and told some U.S. lawmakers that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to create a false narrative that paints the party negatively because of its hawkish views on Beijing and support for Taiwan. two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said. He told NBC News at a press conference.
The U.S. officials, who requested anonymity due to the confidentiality of the briefing, said one of the lies the Chinese Communist Party was fabricating, cited by the FBI briefing officer, was that these lawmakers espoused pro-Taiwan views. That is what he said. Receiving “bribes” from Taiwan.
“The Chinese Communist Party seeks to undermine Congressional support for democracy in Taiwan and portray it as corrupt and not in the U.S. public interest,” one of the two U.S. officials told NBC News. told. “That won’t work.”
Officials said the briefing session was held in the fall.
A third source specializing in national security issues said he had been informed of the Chinese Communist Party’s alleged conspiracy but had not been briefed directly.
The FBI has not commented. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to an emailed request for comment on this story.
U.S. officials said the classified talks were described as “defense” briefings, meaning the alleged Chinese Communist Party plot has not yet been carried out, but the FBI is seeking to provide critical information as a way to pre-empt an attack. He wanted to share it with his target audience.
The FBI typically provides defense briefings to senior officials when it learns they have been targeted by foreign intelligence operations.
Tensions between China and the United States have intensified in recent years, particularly over the future of the island of Taiwan, an autonomous democracy and a key US ally in Asia that China claims as territory.
In 2022, then-California Democratic Party Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an outspoken critic of China’s human rights abuses, made an unannounced visit to Taiwan and received the president’s highest civilian honor. She is the highest-ranking US official to set foot on Taiwan since former Chairman Newt Gingrich did so in 1997, a move that infuriated authorities in Beijing and led to live-fire drills around the island. military exercises have begun, including
Other members of Congress have also visited Taipei. In February, bipartisan members of the House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the Chinese Communist Party traveled to Taiwan to congratulate independence supporter Lai Ching-de, who had been elected president a few weeks earlier. And in May of this year, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) led a bipartisan group of six members on an official Congressional trip to Taiwan and met with Lai.
Several members of the House Intelligence Committee and some House committees of the Chinese Communist Party declined to comment when asked whether they had received confidential briefings on the matter. Lawmakers are prohibited from speaking publicly about such secret meetings.
Rep. John Moolener (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, did not comment on specific plots by the Chinese Communist Party, but said the He said it was no secret that he was targeting people.
“The Chinese Communist Party will seek to discredit our way of life and our freedoms and will use any means necessary,” Moolenaar told NBC News. “So all of these things are to be expected, whether or not they hack the communications of high-ranking officials.”
U.S. intelligence officials and U.S. intelligence officials say China will use the 2022 midterm elections to exacerbate political divisions in U.S. society, particularly over the status of Taiwan, which Beijing deems hostile to the regime’s interests. They say they are employing increasingly sophisticated and aggressive tactics aimed at undermining their current parliamentary candidates. researchers.
In the 2024 presidential election, China does not appear to be favoring either candidate, instead targeting certain voting races with a covert disinformation campaign using artificial intelligence tools and fake accounts imitating Americans. was focused on. McCall was among the candidates targeted. Congressman Barry Moore, Republican of Alabama. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), according to Microsoft analysis. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said at the time that the claims were “full of malicious speculation” and that China had no “intentions” to interfere in the U.S. election.
U.S. intelligence officials and analysts say China’s efforts to inflame polarization and undermine American trust in the democratic process are a global threat aimed at damaging America’s image abroad. It claims that it is part of a long-term effort that includes information operations.
China’s disinformation efforts are consistent with what U.S. officials have described as a concerted effort to steal intellectual property and U.S. military secrets through espionage and cyberhacking.
Earlier this month, the White House announced that China’s hacking campaign targeting the United States and other countries is more extensive and serious than previously known. The Chinese Communist Party has hacked at least eight U.S. telecommunications companies and spied on U.S. citizens’ text messages and phone calls, according to White House officials.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington responded to the claims this month, saying: “China firmly opposes the US’s defamatory attacks against China, which have no factual basis.”
