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Trump Accuses China of Election Meddling

by Patsy Widakuswara

   WHITE HOUSE --

   President Donald Trump is accusing China of meddling in upcoming U.S.
   elections.
   "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in
   our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my
   administration," Trump said during an address Wednesday morning before
   the U.N. Security Council.

   "They do not want me, or us to win, because I am the first president
   ever to challenge China on trade. And we are winning on trade. We are
   winning at every level."
   WATCH: Trump on China

   Shortly after Trump's remarks, China's foreign minister rejected his
   accusations of election meddling.

   Wang Yi told reporters that Beijing follows the principle of
   non-interference in other countries' affairs and refuses to accept
   "unwarranted accusations" against China.

   While Russia's role in manipulating the 2016 election in Trump's favor
   is the subject of the special counsel's investigation, until recently
   there were no allegations of Chinese political meddling. Beijing has
   been accused of corporate espionage for years and in 2015 allegedly
   hacked a database containing personal information on as many as four
   million people who applied for jobs with the U.S. government.

   But Trump administration officials are now accusing China of overtly
   interfering in the U.S. political process.
   Trump, in a tweet Wednesday said "China is actually placing propaganda
   ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like
   news. That's because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and
   the farmers will make a fortune when this is over!"

   Last week, via Twitter, Trump accused China of trying to sway the
   upcoming U.S. midterm elections by targeting voters who supported him
   in 2016.
   "China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and
   change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial
   workers because of their loyalty to me," Trump wrote.

   Prices for many key U.S. agricultural products have plummeted since the
   start of the U.S.-China trade war, as Chinese importers look to other
   countries for their supply.

   Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also asked about Russia's threat to
   upcoming U.S. elections, and he responded by mentioning several
   countries.

   "The U.S. government is actively engaged in efforts to ensure that the
   Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, the North Koreans, all of those
   with malintent for America will not have the capacity to have
   substantial interference in the American elections," he said in an
   interview with CBS news on Wednesday.

   On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats,[1] warned that
   China's growing prowess in cyberspace is a bigger, more dangerous
   threat to the United States than Russia's attempt to undermine U.S.
   elections.

   Speaking at a cybersecurity conference Tuesday at The Citadel, a
   military college in Charleston, South Carolina, Coats characterized the
   Chinese threat as deliberate, methodical and subtle, and warned that
   Beijing is on a path that could lead to global supremacy.

   On Monday, a new round of U.S.-imposed duties on $200 billion worth of
   Chinese goods, and a retaliatory set of tariffs imposed by Beijing on
   $60 billion worth of U.S. goods took effect.
   The U.S. has already imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese
   goods, and China has retaliated on an equal amount on U.S. goods.
   Earlier this month, Trump threatened more tariffs on Chinese goods --
   another $267 billion worth of duties that would cover virtually all the
   goods China imports to the United States.

References

   1. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-intel-chief-warns-china-is-perfecting-surveillance-state-/4587133.html