Former President Donald Trump authorized a CIA influence program in 2019 that targeted Chinese social-media platforms with the objective of turning Chinese public opinion against the CCP, according to a Reuters exclusive report.

The details of the program were reported to Reuters by three former officials involved in the operation, and, according to these sources, the program was tasked with spreading negative information about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and leaking intelligence to foreign news outlets.

According to the sources, the objectives were to spread allegations of CCP leadership corruption, influence public opinion on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and create paranoia among CCP leaders, resulting in Chinese intelligence “chasing ghosts” and wasting resources investigating China’s censored internet.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters the report is evidence that western intelligence agencies use “public opinion space and media platforms as weapons to spread false information and manipulate international public opinion.”