As uncertainty trails the 2020 US presidential polls scheduled to hold at the tail end of the year, China, has denied recent allegations made by the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, that it plans on meddling in the elections in favour of Trump’s opponent and Democratic Party candidate, Joe Biden, as well as allegations surrounding its role in the global COVID-19 pandemic.
What Trump Said
Speaking in an interview in April, the president and Republican candidate in the November polls stated that he believes Beijing was working in favour of his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, in a bid to ease the pressure America has placed on the country over trade among several other issues. “China will do anything they can to have me lose this race,” he said.
Trump went on further to blame China for the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 60,000 American residents and put a dent in economic activities in the country inadvertently “undermining” his presidential campaign for a second four-year term.
“We’re doing very serious investigations … We are not happy with China,” Trump said. “There are a lot of ways you can hold them accountable.”
US Elections is an Internal Affair – China
Responding to Trump’s allegations, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shaun, while addressing pressman at a daily briefing, denied the allegations saying, “the US presidential election is an internal affair, we have no interest in interfering in it,” adding “we hope the people of the US will not drag China into its electoral politics.”
On the origin and spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Shuang expressed concern about the misconception, reiterating that the Asian country is a victim just like the rest of the world. He also accuses “certain politicians” of attempting to deflect blame for poor handling of the outbreak in their countries by placing the blame on China. “The US should know this: the enemy is the virus, not China,” he added.
Not the First Time
While China has denied allegations surrounding the polls in November, this is not the first time America has pointed accusatory fingers at the Asian giant, with intelligence from the US government last year, revealing that just like Russia, China was a country to be closely monitored leading up to the polls.
“Make no mistake, China is aggressively pursuing foreign influence operations,” Nikki Floris, an FBI deputy assistant director, said at a 2019 congressional hearing. “So as we roll into 2020, though Russia was certainly a threat in 2016 [and] 2018, and will continue to be so in 2020, we are also aggressively looking at China as well.”
