At the conclusion of a three-day trip to China that did not yield fruitful results on the contentious issues between the two countries, despite emphasizing the importance of dialogue to resolve problems, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken launched a new accusation against Beijing. He indicated that the U.S. has "seen evidence of Chinese attempts to influence and interfere in the upcoming presidential elections, despite a previous commitment from Chinese President Xi Jinping not to do so."
In an interview with CNN, Blinken stated that during his visit to China, he reiterated a message that President Joe Biden had conveyed to his Chinese counterpart during their summit in San Francisco last November, urging not to intervene in the upcoming presidential elections set for November 2024. He stressed that "any Chinese interference in the elections is completely unacceptable, so I wanted to ensure they heard this message once again," without clarifying what evidence the U.S. administration possesses.
He added simultaneously that concerns about such interventions are not limited to China alone, noting that "there are other countries exploiting existing social divisions in the United States for influence campaigns." Additionally, Blinken highlighted that during this visit, he sought to focus on areas of cooperation between the two nations but confirmed that he was also very candid about the disagreements on both sides.
In his meetings in Beijing on Friday, the U.S. Secretary raised concerns regarding China's support for the Russian military, which is one of several issues threatening the slight improvement that had recently occurred in relations between the world's two largest economies, following tensions that had driven their relationship to its lowest point last year.
President Xi renewed his expression of concern over the U.S. restraining China's economic development, stating, "This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed for Sino-U.S. relations to stabilize, improve, and move forward meaningfully.”
The Chinese officials Blinken met with over the past three days also addressed various sensitive issues straining relations, primarily Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory, as well as the South China Sea dispute.
Additionally, other contentious issues between the two countries include relations with Moscow and military support, espionage accusations, economic and technological competition, artificial intelligence, and U.S. pressure to make progress in curbing supplies of chemical materials from China used in the production of synthetic fentanyl.
