TRUMP ACCUSES CHINA OF MEDDLING IN MIDTERMS
Donald Trump accused China of interfering in his country’s midterm elections, claiming Wednesday that Beijing was working to damage him politically in retaliation for his trade war. Chairing a highly unusual “summit level” meeting of the UN Security Council, the president surprised the gathered heads of state and world leaders when he veered off the stated subject of non-proliferation to target China. “Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November, against my administration. They do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade. And we are winning on trade. We are winning at every level. We don’t want them to meddle or interfere.”
He did not provide details of the alleged interference, which was strongly denied by China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi. “China has all along supported the policy of non-interference in others’ affairs,” said Wang.
A senior U.S. administration official said China had been engaged in a “coordinated effort” to swing public opinion against Trump and his allies through “punishing or rewarding think-tanks, journalists and Hollywood film studios.” He said there had been reports of “threatening calls from embassy officials” and attempts to “intimidate scholars and journalists.”