Pence paints China as enemy in US election
WASHINGTON: Vice-president Mike Pence on Thursday accused China of military aggression, commercial theft and rising human rights violations as he cast the Asian power as a villain bent on interfering in upcoming US elections.
In a blistering speech that expands on complaints aired by President Donald Trump at the United Nations last week, Pence accused China of waging an “unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion” ahead of critical congressional elections on Nov 6.
“To put it bluntly, President Trump’s leadership is working; China wants a different American president,” Pence said at the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.
“There can be no doubt — China is meddling in America’s democracy.”
China hit back furiously yesterday, branding Pence’s accusation as “ridiculous,” groundless and slanderous.
The administration’s offensive on China comes as a cloud hangs over Trump with an investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to swing the 2016 presidential election in the Republican real estate tycoon’s favor.
Just hours before Pence spoke, the US Justice Department indicted seven Russian intelligence agents as part of a joint crackdown with Britain and The Netherlands on alleged hacking by Moscow, including against the Democratic Party, Trump’s domestic rivals.
But Pence said: “As a senior career member of our intelligence community told me just this week, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country.”
Pence’s sharply worded address comes days before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to visit China on a trip focused on nuclear diplomacy with North Korea — an area in which the United States still seeks Beijing’s cooperation.
China has maintained a calm tone as US language escalates. China’s ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, in an interview with National Public Radio aired shortly before Pence’s address, said there was a “much larger need for cooperation” than competition with Washington.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the US charges were “nothing but speaking on hearsay evidence, confusing right and wrong and creating something out of thin air.” — AFP