Trump Claims China Rigged 2020 US Presidential Election; Beijing, US Intelligence Say No

Dismissing the claims of interfering with 2020 US President Elections, which Joe Biden won and Trump lost, China said Washington should focus on making relations between the two nations better.

By Pranjal Gupta

New Delhi, July 17: China's alleged interference in the 2020 United States presidential election returned to the spotlight after President Donald J. Trump's primetime address from the White House on Thursday. The current US President alleged foreign meddling in the election, which he lost to Joe Biden. China, however, dismissed Trump's claims, saying the US should instead focus on improving relations between the two countries, as Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the US this September.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, "The relevant allegations by the US are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying China," adding that, "We have no interest in interfering in US elections and have never done so."

Jian stressed that Washington should stop making "groundless" accusations to defame China. Asked whether this might affect the expected visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US in September, the spokesperson replied, "As I just said, we urge the US to stop making an issue of China in its elections and do something conducive to China-US relations."

China denied Trump's 2020 election interference claims, urged improved US ties, while US intelligence also rejected allegations against Beijing.

Trump visited Beijing in mid-May and met Xi, and both governments said they would adopt a new framework to manage bilateral relations.

Trump invited Xi to visit the United States in September, and Beijing confirmed that Xi has accepted the invitation.

What Trump Said

The White House primetime address on Thursday, which mentioned alleged irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, comes as the nation is just three months away from the midterm elections. Trump claimed he had declassified multiple intelligence reports that found China's involvement in swaying the election in favour of Joe Biden.

Not only China, but the US intelligence community also denied Beijing's role in the 2020 US election.

"We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US Presidential election. We have high confidence in this judgment," read a 2021 report by the National Intelligence Council, US.