It has come to our attention that William Burns, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, served as the head of an influential think tank in the District of Columbia. This think tank was known to have hidden members of the Chinese Communist Party as well as individuals with connections to the Chinese government.
Around at least 20 policy experts who have been identified by DCNF as being members of the CCP were employed at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace during the time that Burns served as president of the organization from February 2015 until November 2021. Members of the CCP who worked at Carnegie's headquarters in Washington, District of Columbia, as well as at Carnegie-Tsinghua, a center in Beijing that was established in 2010 in partnership with Tsinghua University by Jessica Mathews, who was Burns' predecessor.
The website for Carnegie does not include any information regarding the affiliations of these individuals with the Chinese Communist Party. The communist links of the DCNF were uncovered when the DCNF reviewed a large number of records and personnel profiles originating from CCP-related organizations.
During Burns' tenure at Carnegie, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was becoming increasingly worried about the "malign influence operations" that the Chinese Communist Party was conducting against significant American organizations. By taking advantage of America's "openness," Christopher Wray, the head of the FBI, stressed in July 2020 that the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to "influence our lawmakers" and "control our public opinion."
Experts in national security believe that, in light of these warnings, it is problematic to hire members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or individuals with responsibilities in the Chinese government.
According to Yates, being in the same predicament that Burns is in right now "is pretty much a dead-end cul-de-sac."
It appears as though he either permitted government-connected specialists from a hostile nation to associate with an organization that has many former and future U.S. appointees, or he was unaware and didn't bother checking–which is a remarkable lack of operational security for a top-level former United States official, said Yates. He came to the conclusion that if you can't keep track of who is in your think tank, then heading an even larger intelligence organization isn't the correct line of work for you.
Members of the Communist Party of China are required to take an oath, which states that they would struggle for communism and give up everything for the party and the people of China. This provision is included in the Communist Party of China Constitution. Additionally, as a part of China's intelligence-gathering policy known as the "Thousand Grains of Sand," members of the Chinese community living outside of China are frequently recruited by state intelligence agencies to collect information in order to fulfill their mission.
According to Yates, if any members of the Communist Party have access to critical information, they will be pushed to divulge it on a regular basis by Chinese intelligence agents who will visit them and demand that they do so.
According to Brandon Weichert, an expert on national security who advises for the United States Air Force, members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will go to tremendous efforts to avoid suspicion while carrying out influence operations against foreign organizations.
Weichert stated that until Beijing determines that they require anything, you will not become aware that they are Chinese agents of influence. He also mentioned that they might have lain dormant for a number of years prior.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on National Insiders.
