China Dismisses Trump’s Claims of Interference in US Elections

China has rejected allegations by U.S. President Donald Trump that it interfered in U.S. elections, describing the claims as baseless and politically motivated.

Speaking at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the allegations lacked factual evidence and were intended to discredit China.

“The U.S. allegations have no factual ground and are aimed at vilifying China,” Lin said.

Trump had alleged that China obtained 220 million U.S. voter records beginning with the 2020 election cycle, describing it as the “largest compromise of election data in history.”

In a televised address, the U.S. president announced the declassification of intelligence documents which he claimed revealed extensive foreign interference and significant weaknesses in the country’s election systems.

Responding to the claims, Lin said similar accusations against China had repeatedly been proven unfounded.

He reiterated that China follows the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and has never attempted to influence U.S. elections.

“China has no interest in interfering in the U.S. elections and has never done so,” he said.

Lin also turned the criticism back on Washington, questioning which country had engaged in widespread surveillance of foreign governments, businesses and citizens, and had compromised the data of people in other nations on a large scale.

The exchange comes ahead of the U.S. midterm elections scheduled for November.

Trump also cited a CIA report, claiming that in 2018, during his first term in office, the Chinese Communist Party adopted a strategy to mobilise domestic and foreign actors opposed to him in an effort to reduce his support, force his resignation or prevent his re-election in 2020.