China wants to “influence and rationally interfere” in upcoming US elections: Blinken

Blinken made the comments in an interview with CNN on Friday, concluding his visit to China, where the top US diplomat met for hours with top Chinese officials, including Xi, as the two countries discussed a range of contentious issues ranging from US technology controls to Had a conversation. Beijing's support for Moscow.

Blinken said he reiterated President Joe Biden's message he delivered to Xi Jinping during their summit in San Francisco last November not to interfere in the 2024 US presidential elections.

According to CNN, after which Xi pledged that China would not do so.

When asked whether China has so far been violating Xi's commitment to Biden, Blinken said, “We have generally seen evidence of efforts to influence and allegedly interfere, and we continue to see that.” Want to make sure this is over as soon as possible.”

“Any interference from China in our election is something we are watching very carefully and is completely unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure they heard that message again,” he said.

Blinken further said the influence campaigns by China and other countries were based on concerns about existing social divisions in the US, CNN reported.

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.

However, according to CNN, China or other nations considered affiliated with Beijing have been accused of political interference in other countries, such as Canada.

Blinken's visit, his second to the country in less than a year, is the latest in a series of high-level engagements that culminated at the Biden-Xi summit late last year and as the two countries began expanding Is done. Bilateral communication was greatly reduced.

“We are (now) focused on areas where we are working to cooperate, but at the same time we are very clear about our differences and that is important if we want to avoid the competition that could lead to We are turning into conflict,” Blinken said.