Pence says China trying to meddle in US politics

WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday accused the Chinese government of orchestrating an aggressive military, economic and political campaign to expand its influence inside the United States and across other regions of the world.

“China has initiated an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 elections, and the environment leading into the 2020 presidential elections,” Pence said in speech to the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.

“China wants a different American president,” Pence said.

President Donald Trump first charged the Chinese government with meddling in the U.S. election last week during a United Nations Security Council session. He offered no specific evidence at the time, and the Chinese government has sharply rejected the accusations.

“We did not and will not interfere in any country’s domestic affairs,” China’s foreign affairs minister, Wang Yi, said at last week’s U.N. session. “We refuse to accept … unwarranted accusations against China.”

Pence offered a few additional details about what he said were the “proactive and coercive ways” China is trying to manipulate U.S. domestic policies and politics.

Some skeptics have questioned the Trump administration’s accusations against China, suggesting it is an effort to distract attention from Russia’s ongoing meddling in the 2018 midterm elections.