纽约时报中文网 - 中英对照版-中英情报称中国对美国2022年选举的影响行动有所加大

The Chinese government stepped up its efforts to influence American politics in the 2022 election, a new report released on Monday said, and intelligence officials are trying to learn if Beijing is preparing to further intensify those activities in next year’s presidential election.

周一发布的一份新报告称，在2022年的选举中，中国政府加大了影响美国政治的努力，情报官员正在试图了解北京是否准备在明年的总统选举中进一步加强这些活动。

American intelligence agencies did not observe a foreign leader directing an interference campaign against the United States in 2022 in the same way Russia did in 2016. But, the report said, the U.S. government found an array of countries engaged in some kind of influence operations.

美国情报机构没有发现外国领导人在2022年指挥针对美国的干预行动，就像俄罗斯在2016年所做的那样。但是，该报告称，美国政府发现许多国家参与了某种影响行动。

And Chinese authorities tacitly approved operations to influence a handful of political races in the United States in 2022, according to the report, which represents the intelligence agencies’ joint analytic assessment.

报告称，中国当局默许了影响2022年美国几场政治竞选的行动。这份报告代表了情报机构的联合分析评估。

The intelligence agencies have already begun gearing up for influence efforts in the 2024 presidential election, which officials predict will be far more intense than those in 2022, with both China and Russia potentially trying to carry out major operations.

情报机构已经开始为2024年总统选举中的外部影响行动做准备，官员们预测，这次选举将比2022年的选举激烈得多，中国和俄罗斯都可能试图开展重大行动。

In an interview this month, Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, the head of U.S. Cyber Command and the director of the National Security Agency, said 50 people at the two organizations he leads were “working together to generate insights” on the next election. One major question, he said, is whether China will intensify its work or change tactics.

本月接受采访时，美国网络司令部负责人、国家安全局局长保罗·中曾根上将表示，他领导的两个机构的50人正在“共同努力”，就下次选举“提出见解”。他说，一个主要问题是，中国是会加大力度，还是会改变策略。

“What’s the role of China in 2024?” General Nakasone said. “How do they come in? Is it a Russia model? Is it a model that they executed in 2022? Is it something we haven’t seen before?”

“中国将在2024年扮演什么角色？”中曾根说。“他们如何介入？会是俄罗斯模式吗？会是他们在2022年采用的模式吗？会是我们以前没见过的模式吗？”

The report found that China mostly focused on a few races. While it included few details, U.S. officials have repeatedly highlighted how China worked against a candidate for Congress in New York because of his support for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

报告发现，中国主要关注少数几场选举。虽然报告中的细节不多，但美国官员一再强调中国如何反对纽约州一位国会议员候选人，因为该候选人支持1989年天安门广场抗议活动。

The Chinese officials trying to influence the vote were operating under longstanding guidance from leaders to work against officials who were perceived to oppose the Chinese government. But the report also said leaders in China had ordered officials to focus their influence operations on Congress, convinced that it “is a locus of anti-China activity.”

试图影响投票结果的中国官员是根据中国领导人的长期指导行事的，目的是打击那些被认为反对中国政府的官员。但该报告还表示，中国领导人命令官员将影响行动的重点放在国会，因为他们相信国会是“反华活动的场所”。

The Chinese campaigns were designed to portray the United States as chaotic, ineffective and unrepresentative, the report said. But Chinese leaders did not authorize a “comprehensive” effort, wary of the consequences if they were exposed.

报告称，中国的宣传活动旨在将美国描绘成混乱、低效和缺乏代表性的国家。但中国领导人没有授权采取“全面”行动，因为他们担心行动暴露所产生的后果。

Nevertheless, the report said, Chinese interference in 2022 was more significant than during the presidential race two years earlier because “they did not expect the current administration to retaliate as severely as they feared in 2020.”

然而，报告称，中国在2022年的干预比在两年前的总统竞选期间更显著，因为“他们不觉得现任政府会像他们在2020年担心的那样，进行严厉的报复”。

The report’s explanation of that conclusion was not declassified and remains redacted in the version released to the public.

该报告对这一结论的解释并没有解密，在向公众发布的版本中仍经过了编辑。

Since the 2022 vote, China has been experimenting with artificial intelligence to spread disinformation, General Nakasone said.

中曾根说，自2022年大选以来，中国一直在试验用人工智能来传播虚假信息。

The report also found that Russia sought to denigrate Democrats during the 2022 elections largely because of their support for Ukraine, which Russian forces invaded in February of that year.

该报告还发现，俄罗斯在2022年选举期间试图诋毁民主党人，主要是因为俄罗斯军队于当年2月入侵乌克兰，而民主党人支持乌克兰。

“Moscow incorporated themes designed to weaken U.S. support for Ukraine into its propaganda,” the report said, “highlighting how election influence operations are a subset of broader influence activity.”

“莫斯科将旨在削弱美国对乌克兰支持的主题融入了宣传中，”报告称，“凸显了影响选举的行动是更广泛影响活动的一部分。”

Senior intelligence officials have said Russia was not as active in 2022 because senior officials there were distracted with the war in Ukraine. But many intelligence officials believe Russia will probably try to step up its operations in 2024, as aid for Ukraine has become a more divisive political issue.

高级情报官员表示，俄罗斯在2022年没有那么活跃，因为那里的高级官员被乌克兰战争分散了注意力。但许多情报官员认为，俄罗斯可能会在2024年加紧行动，因为对乌克兰的援助已经成为一个更具分歧的政治问题。

In addition, much of Russia’s ability to influence elections was orchestrated by companies controlled by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, including the Internet Research Agency. Mr. Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in August after his failed rebellion and march on Moscow.

此外，俄罗斯影响选举的能力在很大程度上是由叶夫根尼·普里戈任控制的公司精心策划的，其中包括互联网研究机构。今年8月，普里戈任在兵变和进军莫斯科失败后，于飞机失事中丧生。

U.S. officials said they were unsure about how easily Russian officials would be able to interfere in the election without Mr. Prigozhin and with the apparent demise of the Internet Research Agency.

美国官员表示，他们不确定在没有普里戈任，以及互联网研究机构明显消失的情况下，俄罗斯官员干预选举的难度有多大。

The intelligence agencies concluded that foreign governments have largely given up on trying to tamper directly with votes or hack into election infrastructure. Instead, they believe that influence campaigns are more effective.

情报机构得出的结论是，外国政府基本上已经放弃了直接篡改投票或入侵选举基础设施的尝试。他们认为影响力活动更有效。