The US president has accused Beijing of stealing 220 million US voter files<\/p>\n
China has rejected US President Donald Trump\u2019s claim that Beijing masterminded the theft of 220 million American voter files to meddle in the 2020 election. Trump\u2019s explosive remarks came ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s planned visit to Washington in late September and amid a tentative trade truce between the two countries.
\nIn a prime-time address to the nation on Thursday, Trump accused Chinese intelligence services of illicitly acquiring 220 million voter files containing names, addresses, phone numbers, and party affiliations, claiming that Beijing assigned a dedicated unit to exploit the data.
\nHe called the alleged breach \u201can unprecedented election security nightmare\u201d and the \u201clargest compromise\u201d of election data in US history.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Trump accuses China of \u2018election meddling\u2019 (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
The president also claimed that US intelligence agencies detected the alleged Chinese data harvesting in 2020, but intentionally hid it from him and Congress. He did not, however, announce any plans for retaliation against Beijing.
\nLiu Chang, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, dismissed the claims, saying \u201cChina has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US.\u201d<\/p>\n
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What did Trump and Xi achieve in Beijing?<\/p>\n
According to the New York Times, China\u2019s efforts to collect voter data have been \u201cbroadly known for years.\u201d Voter information in many cases can be freely downloaded or bought, the paper said, adding that possessing the data could offer insight into American voters but would not on its own allow anyone to manipulate votes.
\nThe data declassified by the White House also contains a series of memos by senior cyber intelligence official Chris Porter, who argued that China took \u201cat least some low-level, exploratory steps\u201d to undermine Trump\u2019s chances against then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Despite this, Porter agreed with the overall intelligence conclusion that \u201cthere was no information suggesting China tried to interfere with election processes.\u201d
\nTrump\u2019s bombshell accusation comes weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s planned visit to Washington around September 24. According to the South China Morning Post, Beijing will send Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu to Washington next week to help lay the groundwork for the trip.
\nReuters warned that Trump\u2019s accusations could fray US-China ties and unsettle the fragile trade truce. Denis Simon of the Quincy Institute, a Washington think tank, told the South China Morning Post that the speech was significant because it elevated alleged Chinese election meddling to \u201ca central national security narrative.\u201d
\nHe added, however, that while Trump\u2019s remarks could cast doubt on Xi\u2019s visit, \u201charsh rhetoric does not automatically prevent summit diplomacy,\u201d and the key question is whether \u201cthe two governments can continue to compartmentalize, maintaining channels for negotiation while simultaneously accusing each other of increasingly serious security threats.\u201d
\nTrump traveled to China in May, though high-level talks with Xi did not produce a breakthrough on trade. China pledged to increase purchases of US soybeans and buy 200 Boeing jets \u2013 though the number turned out to be much lower than expected. Trump also said he discussed arms sales to Taiwan with Xi. His administration later said shipments to the island \u2013 which Beijing views as its sovereign territory \u2013 were paused.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US president has accused Beijing of stealing 220 million US voter files China has rejected US President Donald Trump\u2019s claim that Beijing masterminded the theft of 220 million American…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t