China has dismissed US President Donald Trump's allegations of election interference, calling the claims baseless and accusing Washington of attempting to smear Beijing ahead of this year's US midterm elections.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday that Trump's accusations had "no factual ground" and were intended to "vilify China."
"The US allegations have no factual ground and are aimed at vilifying China," Lin told reporters in Beijing.
Trump alleged in a primetime address that China obtained 220 million US voter files beginning in the 2020 election cycle, describing it as the "largest compromise of election data in history."
He also announced the declassification of intelligence that he said revealed extensive foreign interference and vulnerabilities in US election systems.
‘China has no interest’
Lin rejected the allegations, saying China has consistently followed a policy of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.
"China has no interest in interfering in the US elections and has never done so," he said, adding that similar accusations had repeatedly been shown to be unfounded.
The Chinese spokesperson also accused the United States of extensive global surveillance and interference abroad.
He questioned, "who has wantonly interfered in other countries' internal affairs, conducted indiscriminate surveillance of governments, businesses, and the general public worldwide, and compromised citizens' data of other countries at a large scale?"
Trump also cited a CIA report that found China's leadership sought during his first term to weaken his electoral prospects ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The exchange comes months before Americans head to the polls in November for midterm elections, with US-China tensions remaining high over trade, technology and national security.
