Both Sides Are Right. Both Sides Are Lying. Welcome to Information Warfare.
When two superpowers accuse each other of exactly the same thing — and both have evidence — someone's lying. Or everyone is. This is the defining pattern of the decade.
China says the CIA is running disinformation campaigns against its global projects.
The US says China is running intimidation operations against dissidents abroad.
Here's the thing: they're both right.
And they're both using the accusation as a weapon.
The Accusation That Can't Be Disproven
On February 25, Beijing claimed it detected "covert campaigns led by the CIA on social media" aimed at discrediting the Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese intelligence described it as a "malicious attempt to deceive military personnel and government officials."
Two days later, a CNN investigation revealed how China's United Front Work Department runs over 2,000 organizations in the US to spy on Chinese citizens and suppress dissent. An FBI official called it "a campaign by the Chinese government to silence dissent on US soil."
Same week. Same accusation. Different direction.
And both backed by evidence.
The US Has Done This. We Have Receipts.
In 2024, Reuters revealed that the Trump administration launched a CIA covert operation creating fake social media accounts to troll the Chinese government. The team promoted allegations that Communist Party members were hiding money overseas. They slammed Belt and Road as "corrupt and wasteful."
That's not speculation. That's documented.
Operation Earnest Voice — a $200 million Pentagon program — used fake online personas to spread pro-American messaging in Iraq and Afghanistan starting in 2011. The Guardian reported that up to 50 soldiers could manage these sock puppets "without fear of detection."
Radio Free Asia? CIA-funded since 1951. Declassified documents from the National Security Archive confirm it. Still operating today.
The US runs information operations. This isn't controversial. It's policy.
China Has Done This. We Have Receipts.
On February 27, a Chinese government whistleblower surfaced in the US. Ma Ruilin, a former United Front official, told CNN how the Communist Party spies on citizens at home and abroad.
The United Front Work Department infiltrates student organizations and "hometown associations" in America. China says these groups help with driver's licenses. The FBI says they're recruitment grounds for "people willing to engage in transnational repression."
On February 25, OpenAI published a report revealing that a Chinese law enforcement official accidentally exposed an intimidation operation while using ChatGPT. The campaign targeted Chinese dissidents abroad — including by impersonating US immigration officials.
Fox Hunt, China's "repatriation" program, has been used to suppress dissent internationally. The FBI confirmed it. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists documented China's "machinery of repression" across continents in a December 2025 investigation.
China runs information operations. This isn't controversial. It's documented.
The Perfect Weapon
Here's what makes this the defining pattern of the decade: the accusation itself is unfalsifiable.
You can't fully prove it. CIA operations stay classified for decades. Chinese influence operations work through front groups and civilian proxies.
You can't fully deny it. Enough declassified documents exist on both sides to make plausible deniability impossible.
So the accusation becomes the weapon.
When Beijing says "the CIA is running disinfo against us," it doesn't matter if it's true this time. The US has done it before. The claim is credible.
When Washington says "China is running intimidation ops on US soil," it doesn't matter if it's true this time. China has done it before. The claim is credible.
Both governments use the accusation to justify domestic crackdowns. The US tightens "election integrity" measures. China expands "national security" laws. The foreign threat — real or imagined — becomes the justification.
The Same Playbook, Different Flags
Compare the language:
China's accusation (Feb 25, 2026): "The CIA is running covert campaigns on social media aimed at discrediting China's global projects and portraying its leadership as corrupt." US accusation (documented by Reuters, 2024): The CIA ran a covert campaign "promoting allegations that members of the ruling Communist Party were hiding ill-gotten money overseas and slamming as corrupt and wasteful China's Belt and Road Initiative."They're describing the same operation — one as defense, one as offense.
US accusation (Feb 27, 2026): "This is a campaign by the Chinese government to silence dissent on US soil." China's documented operations (ICIJ, Dec 2025): The United Front uses "grassroots police stations" and "social forces" to "suppress and curb politically sensitive activities" overseas.They're describing the same operation — one as defense, one as offense.
Why This Matters
When two superpowers accuse each other of exactly the same thing — and both have evidence — you're not watching a debate about truth.
You're watching information warfare.
The goal isn't to convince you the other side is lying. The goal is to make the accusation itself the reality. To create a world where "foreign interference" is the explanation for everything inconvenient.
Your government lost an election? Foreign interference.
Your population is protesting? Foreign agitators.
Your economy is struggling? Foreign sabotage.
The accusation becomes unfalsifiable. And that makes it the perfect weapon.
The Evidence Shows Both Sides
This isn't "both sides are equally bad." This is "both sides have documented histories of doing exactly what they accuse the other of doing."
The US:
- Operation Earnest Voice (2011-present, documented)
- Radio Free Asia (CIA-funded since 1951, declassified)
- CIA social media operation against China (Reuters, 2024)
China:
- United Front Work Department (CNN whistleblower, Feb 2026)
- ChatGPT leak revealing intimidation ops (OpenAI report, Feb 2026)
- Fox Hunt transnational repression (FBI confirmed)
When the evidence exists on both sides, the accusation stops being about truth. It becomes about power.
The Bottom Line
Next time you hear "foreign interference" — from any government, about any government — ask three questions:
- Is there evidence?
- Has the accuser done this before?
- What domestic policy does this accusation justify?
Because in information warfare, the claim doesn't have to be true. It just has to be credible enough to be useful.
And when both sides are right and both sides are lying, we've entered a new era.
Welcome to it.
Keep Reading
China Built More Coal Plants Than Any Year Since 2008. It Also Built More Renewables Than Anyone in History. Here's How Both Are True.
The word 'despite' in every headline about China's energy does more work than any policy document. It assumes coal and renewables compete. They don't — not yet.
DeepSeek Trained on Nvidia's Best Chips. Now Nvidia Can't Use the Result.
Export controls created a world where the customer gets the product and the supplier doesn't. How America's chip restrictions just inverted tech dominance.
China Just Sanctioned 40 Japanese Companies. Here's What That Actually Means.
Export controls are the new weapons in the tech cold war. China's latest move against Japan shows how global supply chains are being weaponized—and who's caught in the crossfire.
Explore Perspectives
Get this delivered free every morning
The daily briefing with perspectives from 7 regions — straight to your inbox.