Trump says China ‘attempting to interfere’ in midterm elections
Refuses to accept ‘unwarranted accusations’
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of interfering in the upcoming US midterm elections in November to ensure a setback for him over his trade policy and reprised his attack on Iran as he chaired for the first time a session of the UN Security Council.
“Regrettably, China has been attempting to interfere in our 2018 election,” Trump told world leaders seated around the horseshoe-shaped table of the Security Council. “They (the Chinese) don’t want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade.”
Staring directly at the Chinese delegation, he said: “We don’t want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election.”
China shot back, when it was its turn. “China has along followed principles of non-interference in other countries’ domestic affairs,” said foreign minister Wang Yi. “We did not and will not interfere in any country’s domestic affairs and we refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China.”
Yi reiterated China’s continued support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the nuclear deal for Iran, which Trump pulled out from. Yi described it as “a viable agreement” and called for respecting the “legitimate right of all countries to normal economic relations and trade with Iran”.
China is the largest importer of Iranian crude and has said it has no obligations to abide by upcoming US sanctions.
The special session of the Security Council chaired by Trump was called to discuss non-proliferation but was widely expected to be about Iran and Washington’s efforts to force Tehran to halt and give up its ballistic missiles and end “malign activities” in the region.
Trump attacked Iran using much the same language he deployed in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, and which his aides have echoed from multiple platforms.
“If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens,” US National Security Adviser John Bolton told a conference on Tuesday.
Trump’s attack on China, accusing it of meddling in elections, is not entirely new. In a tweet earlier in September, he alleged China was targeting retaliatory tariffs at farmers and others who are a part of his support base to “change and impact our election”.
But he made no mention of it as he attacked China in his General Assembly speech. He focused on the trade dispute that the US triggered to correct the trade imbalance between the two countries and to force Beijing to stop unfair trade practices such as forced transfer of technology and theft of intellectual property. He has announced two rounds of tariffs on Chinese imports worth $250 billion, and has an equal amount in the pipeline.
But Wednesday’s attack on China for allegedly interfering in US polls was Trump’s most direct yet and his first from a world platform. He has not been as forthright about Russian meddling in the 2016 elections that is being investigated by a special counsel.