Anthony Blinken, during a visit to China, repeated President Joe Biden's call for Xi not to interfere in the 2024 US presidential election.
The US has seen evidence of Chinese attempts to “influence and possibly interfere” in the upcoming US elections, despite leader Xi Jinping's pledge not to do so.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about this in an interview with CNN.
Blinken said he reiterated President Joe Biden's call for Xi not to interfere in the 2024 US presidential election.
“We have seen.. . evidence of attempts to influence and possibly interfere, and we want to make sure that this is stopped as quickly as possible. Any interference by China in our elections is something that we are looking at very carefully, it is completely unacceptable to us, so I would like to make sure. that they heard the message again,” Blinken said. He added that there is concern that China and other countries are playing on existing social divisions in the US in influence campaigns.
Beijing has repeatedly stated that it does not interfere in the US elections based on its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
Blinken said the US and China are being “very open” about their differences because the US wants to “avoid competition that becomes a conflict.”
The Secretary added that he used this meeting with Xi Jinping to express the Biden administration's concerns about China's support for Russia, and to emphasize that the United States will take further action if such support continues.
“What we have told China is this: We will take action, and if this doesn't stop, we will be forced to take more action, and you can expect other countries to take action as well. We expect them to act, and… if they don't, we will act,” Blinken said. He added that he had raised the issue with both Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Xi.
Blinken also said that their Chinese counterparts did not recognize the role of these goods in the war in Ukraine. Instead, they characterized it as trade with Russia and said Moscow's success did not depend on China, Blinken added.
CNN notes that China has long maintained it remains neutral in Russia's war against Ukraine and has continued to present itself as a potential peace broker even as Beijing has strengthened its economic, strategic and diplomatic ties with Russia since the start of a full-scale war.
Recall that earlier China opposed the armament of Ukraine. China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Gen Shuang, said that it is better to end the war through negotiations rather than through weapons.
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