Antony Blinken says he's seen evidence of China attempting to 'influence and ... trends now
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. has seen evidence that China is trying to 'influence' and 'interfere' in the November presidential election despite a commitment from leader Xi Jinping not to do so.
'We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that's cut off as quickly as possible,' Blinken told CNN.
'Any interference by China in our election is something that we're looking very carefully at and is totally unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure that they heard that message again,' he noted.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People
When Xi met with President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, he pledged not to interfere in upcoming American presidential contest.
But a U.S. intelligence report last month warned that China was trying to influence U.S. voters via TikTok and other social media apps.
Many fake accounts, originating in China, were pretending to be American supporters of Donald Trump and pushing various conspiracy theories.
The report warned China's government may 'attempt to influence the U.S. elections in 2024 at some level because of its desire to sideline critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions.'
Xi's government has repeatedly denied any election interference.
Blinken was wrapping up a three-day trip to China where he met with top Chinese officials including Xi.
'We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that's cut off as quickly as possible,' Blinken told CNN
During his meeting with the Chinese leader, Blinken emphasized the importance of 'responsibly managing' the differences between the United States and China.
Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about China's support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine , as well as other issues including Taiwan and the South China Sea, human rights and the production and export of synthetic opioid precursors .
He sounded a positive note on recent progress made in bilateral cooperation, including in military communications, counternarcotics and artificial intelligence, on which the two sides agreed to start a dialogue on how to reduce risks from the rapidly emerging technology.
'We are committed to maintaining and strengthening lines of communication to advance that agenda, and again deal responsibly with our differences so we avoid any miscommunications, any misperceptions, any miscalculations,' he said.
But he stressed that 'even as we seek to deepen cooperation, where our interests align, the United States is very clear-eyed about the challenges posed by (China) and about our competing visions for the future. America will always defend our core interests and values.'
Notably, he said he raised ongoing concerns about Beijing's supply of materials,
