U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed concerns regarding evidence indicating that China is actively trying to influence and potentially meddle in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election.
This development contradicts assurances from Chinese President Xi Jinping that his country would not partake in such actions.
Blinken highlighted these worries in an interview with CNN, citing evidence collected by the United States as reported by the Daily Mail.
“We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that’s cut off as quickly as possible,” Blinken said.
“Any interference by China in our election is something that we’re looking very carefully at and is totally unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure that they heard that message again,” he added.
The Guardian reported:
Washington has seen evidence of attempts by Beijing to “influence and arguably interfere” in this year’s US elections, the secretary of state has said during a trip to China, also warning that Chinese companies face new sanctions if they do not stop supplying material and equipment to the Russian arms industry.
Antony Blinken told CNN that he had reiterated Joe Biden’s message to Xi Jinping not to interfere in November’s vote – a warning that reportedly received assurances from the Chinese president that he would not do so.
There was no immediate response from Beijing on either the accusation of attempts at election interference, nor the warning on sanctions, which Blinken said the US and its allies could impose over China’s support of the Russian defence industry. But earlier on Friday China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said “disruptions” could reverse recent improvements in US-China relations and lead to a “downward spiral” of rivalry, confrontation and even conflict.
Speaking to reporters at the end of a three-day visit to China, Blinken acknowledged there had been improvements in relations since a summit in San Francisco in November between Xi and Biden.
He pointed to cooperation on counter-narcotics, the revival of contacts between the militaries of both countries, and he announced the first US-China talks on the security risks of artificial intelligence development, which he said would take place in the coming weeks.
The Secretary’s remarks echo concerns highlighted in a recent U.S. intelligence report regarding China potentially utilizing platforms like TikTok to influence American political discussions and voter preferences.
Interestingly, in 2022, the Biden administration established a formal partnership between TikTok and the Federal Voting Assistance Program, an agency aiding overseas voters in U.S. elections.
TikTok introduced the “Midterms Election Center” within their app, providing users with election information across 40 languages, including English.
This contrasts with the CCP’s stance on “Election Misinformation,” as TikTok aims to educate users on topics like voting by mail in different states.
The U.S. intelligence community has confirmed that the Cuban government, along with Russia, China, and Iran, engaged in covert operations to influence the outcome of the 2022 midterm elections.
If these foreign entities interfere in the U.S. presidential election, they are expected to support Joe Biden due to Trump’s tough stance against certain countries.
For example, Trump imposed substantial tariffs on Chinese products such as washing machines, solar panels, steel, aluminum, baseball hats, luggage, bicycles, TVs, and sneakers.
Furthermore, President Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal which he deemed flawed and one-sided. He then reimposed sanctions on Iran in an effort to target their sponsorship of terrorism.
President Trump has extended sanctions on Iran’s metal industries, targeting iron, steel, aluminum, and copper.
These sanctions now encompass Iran’s key exports – oil, petrochemicals, and metals – making them the most stringent measures imposed by the U.S. Administration on Iran.
The decision to enact these tough sanctions stems from Iran’s continued harmful and destabilizing actions.
