China on Friday dismissed US President Donald Trump's allegations that Beijing compromised American election data during the 2020 presidential race, reiterating that it has "never and will never" interfere in US elections, CBS reported.
The response came in a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy shortly before Trump addressed the nation from the White House. Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang said, “China has all along adhered to the principle of non-interference in other’s internal affairs. The U.S. election is an internal matter of the U.S. Its outcome is determined by the votes of the American people. China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US."
During his televised address, Trump accused China of carrying out what he described as the “largest compromise" of US election data during the 2020 election cycle.
“Over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China’s illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files," the US president said.
Trump alleged that the data purportedly obtained by China included “names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote, and engage in other nefarious activities."
“This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare. The intelligence even shows that China assigned a data exploitation unit specifically to this new project," he added.
The US president further claimed that members of what he referred to as the “deep state" had attempted to downplay evidence of Chinese interference in American elections.
He also alleged that Beijing sought to influence US politics and that intelligence concerning Chinese election-related activities had been withheld from presidential briefings.
“Tens of millions of voter days have been bought, stolen or hacked," he said, while alleging there had been a “cover-up of this colossal security breach… They fought like hell not to have Trump win."
Trump additionally claimed that “In mid 2018, China’s policy was to make the US President resign," alleging that Beijing was “working on US midterm elections" and had “attempted to turn US businesses against the President" while paying “journalists to write negative articles about the US President."
He also alleged that intelligence agencies withheld information from the White House during the previous administration.
Trump has consistently argued that the 2020 presidential election was affected by widespread fraud.
However, more than 60 lawsuits brought by Trump and his allies did not result in any court ruling establishing election fraud sufficient to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Multiple recounts, audits and investigations—including reviews conducted by Trump's own Justice Department—also found no evidence of fraud that could have changed the election result.
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