Summary (Part 3) — China's 2020 Election Influence Plans (Gun/Immigration Themes)

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DECLASSIFIED BY COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT WARRINGTON ON 10 JULY 2026

Sununary:

Ahead of the 2020 Presidential Elections. China had extensive plans to utilize pote and
cyber operations to sway public opinion against the Trump Administration and international opinion against
the U.S. Government. The China plans were designed to exploit U.S. societal fissures and vulnerabilities.
to influence U.S and other audiences, and by extension U.S. government decision-making. The plans
addressed several scenarios, including military conflict between the U.S. and China. as well as other
potential crises.

The J Operations themes covered a broad range of topics. to exploit what China perceived to
be U.S. fissures and vulnerabilities (perceived or real). including:

e Gun proliferation: and
e Immigration policies:
e Inciting migrant community dissatisfaction with the USG:
e Instigating demonstrations against the USG’s alleged human rights violations against
immigrants:
Inflaming resentment between anti-immigrant and pro-immigrant communities: and
Instigating anti-immigration demonstrations.

China had developed capabilities to project themes on these topics into social media (Tiktok, Facebook.
Twitter, YouTube and others), as well as mainstream media through a variety of overt and hidden influencers
and media contributors. One of the options included gathering information on senior U.S. government
officials to influence public opinion of those officials.

DECLASSIFIED BY COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT WARRINGTON ON 10 JULY 2026

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