crucial quote
In an earlier statement, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said: “We urge the US side to reflect on its own actions, stop baselessly smearing China, refrain from making China an issue in its elections, and do more to foster positive China-US relations.”
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What Did Trump Say About China In His Speech?
In his speech on Thursday night, the president reiterated his grievances about the state of election security in the U.S. and said he was declassifying documents that showed China had illicitly acquired 220 million U.S. voter files, including names, addresses and other data. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the senior-most Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and several others pointed out that voter information is publicly available and can be purchased by campaigns. Trump also claimed that in 2019, the Chinese government deployed a strategy that was focused on “undermining domestic confidence in” him. “They wanted to just make you sound like your president was not so hot. When, actually, your president has done a great job.”
news peg
The president’s election-interference claims come just two months after he visited Beijing for a summit meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Trump’s trip to China and effusive praise of Xi during the visit appeared to signal a thawing of ties between the two countries after a year-long escalating trade war. The latest comments, however, threaten to derail progress on trade talks and other matters. Trump has formally invited Xi to the White House for a summit in September.
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Tangent
Trump’s allegations of foreign meddling were focused on China and only featured a passing mention of Russia. The president has repeatedly attacked his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and the Democratic Party, for spreading what he referred to as the “Russia hoax.” However, one of the 2020 intelligence assessment documents, declassified by the White House after Trump’s speech, suggested that Russia was working to undermine Biden. The assessment notes “Russia is using a range of measures primarily to denigrate former Vice President Biden… it is directing or encouraging proxies to spread claims about Vice President Biden. Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media.” The document noted that Russia-backed proxies are conspiring to “orchestrate a high-profile corruption scandal” to implicate Biden at the peak of his presidential campaign.
further reading
Trump Accuses China Of Meddling In Elections As He Rehashes Old Concerns About 2020 (Forbes)
Read more Trump Accuses China Of Meddling In Elections As He Rehashes Old Concerns About 2020