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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the US had seen evidence of Chinese attempts to "influence and possibly interfere" in the upcoming US election, despite President Xi Jinping's pledge not to do so.
He told about this in an interview for CNN, reports Ukrinform.
Blinken said he echoed President Joe Biden's call for Xi not to interfere in the 2024 US presidential election.
“We have seen ... evidence of attempted influence and possibly interference, and we want to make sure it stops as soon as possible. Any interference from China in our election is something that we look at very carefully, it's totally unacceptable to us, so I'd like to make sure they hear that message again," Blinken said, adding that there are concerns that , that China and other countries are playing on existing social divisions in the US in influence campaigns.
Beijing has repeatedly stated that it does not interfere in the US elections, based on its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
Blinken said that the United States and China are currently "very frank" about their differences, because the United States wants to "avoid competition that turns into conflict."
The secretary of state added that he used the meeting with Xi to express the Biden administration's concerns about China's support for Russia, and to emphasize that the US will take further action if such support continues.
"What we have told China is that we will take action, and if this does not stop, we will be forced to take more action, and you can expect other countries to take action as well. We expect them to act and ... if they don't, we will act,” Blinken said, adding that he had raised the issue with both Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Xi.
He also reported that the Chinese colleagues did not recognize the role of these goods in the war in Ukraine. Instead, they characterized it as trade with Russia and said Moscow's success did not depend on China, Blinken added.
China has long maintained its neutrality in Russia's war against Ukraine and has continued to present itself as a potential peace broker, even as Beijing has strengthened its economic, strategic and diplomatic ties with Russia since the start of the full-scale war, the media resource writes. .
Photo: US Department of State / flickr
