Trump Accuses China of 2018 Election Meddling, Beijing Rejects Charge

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of seeking to meddle in the November 6 US congressional elections, saying Beijing did not want his Republican Party to do well because of his pugnacious stance on trade.

“China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November. Against my administration,” Mr Trump told a UN Security Council meeting whose ostensible subject was nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Trump, chairing the Council for the first time since becoming US president, did not provide any evidence for his allegation, which China immediately rejected during the same meeting.

“We did not and will not interfere in any country’s domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China,” China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told the Council.

During an evening news conference, Mr Trump described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a friend, prompting a reporter to ask how that could be the case given the allegations of meddling. “Maybe he’s not any more, I’ll be honest with you,” Mr Trump replied.

The United States and China are embroiled in a trade war, sparked by Mr Trump’s accusations that China has long sought to steal US intellectual property, limit access to its own market and unfairly subsidise state-owned companies.