China has vehemently denied allegations made by President Donald Trump that it interfered in the U.S. elections.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian dismissed the accusations as "entirely fabricated, maliciously slanderous and have long been proven completely groundless" during a press conference on Friday, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday.
Lin reiterated China’s stance of non-interference, stating that the nation had no interest in meddling in U.S. domestic affairs and had never done so.
Taking a dig at Washington, the spokesperson also highlighted that it is well-known in the international community “who routinely interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, conducts long-term, indiscriminate surveillance of governments, businesses and ordinary citizens globally, and steals the data of other countries’ citizens on a massive scale.”
The foreign ministry further called on the U.S. to reflect on its own actions, halt its “baseless smearing” of China, and act in a manner that is more conducive to bilateral relations.
Trump Revives China Election Claims
On Thursday, the President declassified election files and made allegations of Chinese influence. In a primetime address, he discussed alleged election interference in 2020 and launched a dedicated website for the same. Trump also alleged that China paid U.S. journalists to publish negative stories about his administration during his first term.
Trump’s speech came two months after he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and ahead of Xi’s planned September visit to Washington.
The allegations made by Trump are not new. In 2018, Trump told the U.N. Security Council that China opposed Republican success in the midterm elections because he was the “first” U.S. president to aggressively challenge Beijing on trade. He also repeated the claims in 2020.
Months after Joe Biden’s election victory, the U.S. National Intelligence Council concluded that China did not interfere in the election and, although it considered doing so, did not carry out a covert influence campaign.
The March 2021 assessment distinguished election influence, such as spreading disinformation, swaying voters or promoting candidates, from election interference, which involves directly manipulating voting systems, voter registration, ballot casting, or vote counting.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
