President Donald Trump has leveled accusations against China regarding interference in the 2020 US elections and the theft of voter data. These statements have reignited a discussion that was previously refuted by US intelligence agencies.
Trump's Allegations in the White House
Speaking on air from the White House on Thursday evening, Trump claimed that the Chinese government had stolen 220 million voter files containing names, addresses, and other sensitive information. He called it 'the largest election data compromise in history,' despite previous denials from US intelligence services.
These accusations came several months before the planned visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US in September. This visit was part of broader efforts by the Trump administration to stabilize relations and maintain the trade truce established last year.
Intelligence Concerns and Reactions
Trump also asserted that intelligence agencies had concealed information about attempts by China to influence the 2020 election, which was ultimately won by former President Joe Biden. In response, Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, stated in a release that 'China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries' and emphasized that US elections are an internal matter of America.
Hank Wang Huiyao, founder of the Center for China and Globalisation in Beijing, noted that China had no incentive to interfere in the 2020 elections since there was no obvious candidate supporting Beijing. He warned that the current moment is very delicate for China-US relations and called for mutual restraint.
Senators' Positions and Reports
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, a member of the Group of Eight, which includes leading Republicans and Democrats on intelligence issues, called Trump's claims about China 'completely absurd.' Warner wrote on X that US intelligence agencies unanimously concluded that China did not even attempt to change a single vote in the 2020 election.
According to the 2021 US Intelligence Community Assessment, there was no evidence that 'any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 US election, including voter registration, voting, vote counting, or result reporting.' The report also indicated that the decentralized system of election management at the state and local levels makes undetected manipulation extremely difficult due to cybersecurity monitoring, intelligence gathering, and post-election audits.
