Feds warn China plans to run fake stories that US lawmakers took bribes: report

The FBI issued an urgent warning that the Chinese Communist Party plans to erode U.S. voters' trust in the government's support of Taiwan by manufacturing fake stories about various politicians, NBC News reported Monday evening.

U.S. officials speaking anonymously to NBC said that "one of the false stories being concocted by the CCP, cited by FBI briefers, is that these lawmakers are espousing pro-Taiwan views because they were taking 'bribes' from Taiwan," reported Scott Wong and Ken Dilanian. One official said, “The CCP is trying to undermine congressional support for Taiwan’s democracy, to paint it as corrupt and not in the American public interest. It will not work.”

Such tactics would mirror how Russia has for years sought to erode U.S. support for Ukraine ahead of and during its invasion and occupation of the country, by spreading false claims about the country on social media.

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This marks the latest development in tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan; China considers the island nation, where the Nationalist government fled in exile after the Communists took over the mainland, an integral part of Chinese territory; the U.S. has ostensibly acknowledged the so-called "One China" policy, but as a part of its global security strategy in Asia, gives Taiwan military aid to prevent a Chinese invasion.

Meanwhile, recent years have seen U.S. leaders more emboldened to stand with Taiwan, the report noted.

"In 2022, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., an outspoken critic of China’s human rights violations, made an unannounced visit to Taiwan and was awarded the highest civilian honor by its president. She was the highest-ranking U.S. official to set foot in Taiwan since former Speaker Newt Gingrich did it in 1997, and the move infuriated officials in Beijing, which launched military exercises around Taiwan including live-fire drills."

Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), who runs a select committee on China, told NBC News, "The CCP will try to discredit our way of life, our freedoms and will use every means necessary. So you know, whether it’s hacking high-level officials’ communications, we can expect all these things.”