Washington DC [US], February 2 (ANI): Mamtimin Ala, President of the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE), has raised alarm over the scale of Chinese influence operations targeting the United States.

In a post on X, he claimed that approximately 2,000 organisations linked to China's United Front operate worldwide, with at least 1,000 active inside the US.

'These organisations penetrate all levels of American society--from the White House to remote strategic locations. They form a vast intelligence and influence network that even the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War would have envied. Their mission goes far beyond gathering intelligence; their ultimate goal is to weaken the United States from within,' Ala wrote.

Ala also warned that these operations are supported by internal actors who remain largely hidden. 'The enemy is already inside the gates, aided by faceless, insidious insiders who could one day help seize power,' he said. 'While the existence of these organisations is acknowledged and monitored, those enabling them behind the scenes remain undisclosed. If they achieve their goals, it will not be because they outsmarted the United States, but because of the extraordinary influence of this enemy from within, ' he added.

Mamtimin Ala is an Australian-Uyghur political leader, activist and scholar born in 1971 in Artush, East Turkistan. He became the 5th President of the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile in November 2023, advocating internationally for Uyghur rights, independence, and recognition of alleged human rights abuses in East Turkistan. He previously served as ETGE's European representative and leads efforts to unite the global East Turkistani diaspora and influence foreign policy on genocide and cultural repression.

The united front is a political tactic used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that involves networks of organisations and influential individuals, either influenced by or directed by the CCP, to promote its objectives. Experts have long warned about Beijing's global United Front network, which promotes Chinese government interests abroad through lobbying, propaganda, and intelligence collection. Ala's comments highlight the potential scale of these efforts and the concern among exile groups about their impact on US national security. (ANI)