Blinken says the US has seen evidence that China is trying to influence the upcoming presidential election

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had found evidence of Chinese attempts to “influence and possibly interfere” with the upcoming US election, despite leader Xi Jinping’s earlier pledge not to do so. reports CNN, quoted by News.ro.

Blinken made the comments in an interview with CNN on Friday at the end of a three-day trip to China, where the top US diplomat spent hours meeting with senior Chinese officials, including Xi, while the two countries cross a series of controversial issues. from US control of technology to Beijing’s support for Moscow.

Blinken said he repeated a message that President Joe Biden conveyed to Xi during their summit in San Francisco last November to stay out of the 2024 US presidential election. At that time, Xi promised that China will not do so, according to CNN.

“We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and intervene, and we want to make sure that this is stopped as quickly as possible,” Blinken stressed when asked if China had so far violated its commitment Xi to Biden.

“Any interference by China in our election is something that we watch very carefully and it’s totally unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure I heard that message again,” Blinken said, adding that there was concern about to China and other countries that exploit the existing social divisions in the US in influence campaigns.

Beijing has repeatedly said it does not interfere in US elections, based on its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. China or actors believed to be affiliated with Beijing have been accused of political interference in other countries, such as Canada.