China has attempted to shape the outcome of specific races in the 2022 midterm electionsreflecting a more aggressive approach by Beijing to try to influence U.S. policy and exploit societal divisions, according to a recently released assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies.
The intelligence assessment found that “China has tacitly approved efforts to attempt to influence a handful of midterm elections involving members of both U.S. political parties”, hoping to counter some candidates seen as “anti-China” and to support others considered “pro-China”. », the declassified intelligence community report on foreign threats to the 2022 midterm elections.
Beijing likely views its information operations in the United States as a response “to what it sees as an intensified effort by the United States to promote democracy at China’s expense,” the report said.
Since 2020, China’s top leaders have issued orders to step up efforts to influence U.S. policy and public opinion in favor of China, according to the report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
“We believe these guidelines gave PRC (People’s Republic of China) influence actors more freedom to act before the midterm elections than during the 2020 presidential election, likely because officials in the PRC thought Beijing was under less scrutiny during the midterm elections and because they did not. “We expect the current administration to respond as harshly as they feared in 2020,” it reads.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, called the contents of the intelligence report “baseless and fabricated.”
“China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and has no interest in interfering in the internal affairs and elections of the United States,” Liu Pengyu said in an email. “The accusations concerned are purely unfounded and fabricated.”
China, Russia, Iran and other governments have all made efforts to influence the 2022 midterm elections, but there is no indication that foreign adversaries have undertaken cyberattacks to try to gain access or tamper with U.S. election infrastructure or vote counting, according to the report.
There has been no sign of a concerted attempt to hack U.S. election networks since 2016, “when Russia almost certainly recognized election networks in every U.S. state and accessed election-related infrastructure in at least two states “, did he declare.
“We assess that most foreign actors now appear largely focused on amplifying authentic U.S. public narratives to attempt to influence election outcomes, increase distrust in U.S. electoral processes, and inflame sociopolitical divisions,” says the report released by the Office of the Director. of national intelligence.
“This approach allows for denial as foreign actors spread U.S. content in an attempt to exploit existing fissures,” the report said.
Unlike China, Russia attempted to influence the entire election, aiming to undermine the Democratic Party and political support for Ukraine, the report said.
The intelligence agencies concluded that “the Russian government and its proxies sought to denigrate the Democratic Party ahead of the midterm elections and undermine confidence in the elections, which is very likely to undermine U.S. support for the election.” Ukraine,” the report said, adding that the intelligence community had “high confidence in this assessment.
“Elements of the Kremlin and its intelligence services have conducted extensive research and analysis among the American public to inform their election-related efforts, including identifying target demographics and the narratives and platforms that they believe could appeal to this audience,” according to the report.
Iran’s influence activities were primarily aimed at “exploiting perceived social divisions and undermining confidence in American democratic institutions during this election cycle,” he said, asserting that the intelligence community had “moderate confidence” in this assessment.
“Tehran’s midterm efforts likely reflected in part limited resources due to competing priorities and the need to manage internal unrest,” the report said.
The level of foreign activity exceeded that of the 2018 midterm elections, but did not reach the level typically seen in a presidential election year, according to the report.
The influence operations involved the covert use of social media accounts and proxy websites, payments to influencers and the use of public relations firms, the report said.
