Sachs: CIA operation shows U.S. interference in China's internal affairs 'plainly evident'

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been trying to undermine China's stability for years, and harmful American interference in China's internal affairs is "plainly evident," a renowned U.S. economist told Xinhua on Thursday.

Jeffrey Sachs, an economics professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, made the remarks while commenting on a report that the CIA, during the Trump administration, launched a clandestine campaign on Chinese social media aimed at turning public opinion in China against its government.

According to a Reuters report, which quoted former U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the highly classified operation, the CIA in 2019 created a small team of operatives who used bogus internet identities to spread negative narratives about the Chinese government and slammed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which provides financing for infrastructure projects in the developing world, as corrupt and wasteful.

"The fact that the CIA was spreading negative propaganda about the BRI is notable for me, because I have been saying for years that the U.S. badmouthing of the BRI is simply propaganda, not reality. Now we see that point explicitly acknowledged," said Sachs.

Sachs, also a senior United Nations advisor, noted that at the core of the UN Charter is the doctrine of non-interference, which requires that UN member states do not interfere in the internal affairs of other UN member states.

"Unfortunately, the U.S. government interferes pervasively in the internal affairs of other states, in part through covert CIA operations such as those described in today's new story. Such illegal actions should stop," Sachs said.

The economist said such operations directly violate international law, fail to achieve their purposes, and "create pervasive international distrust that sometimes boils over into open conflict, as in Ukraine."

"All UN member states, and notably the U.S., should recommit to the international law of non-interference," he added.

It's not clear whether the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has maintained the CIA program. But two intelligence historians told Reuters that when the White House grants the CIA covert action authority, through an order known as a presidential finding, it often remains in place across administrations.

(With input from agencies)