US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the country has evidence of Chinese attempts to “influence and arguably interfere” with the upcoming US elections, despite Xi Jinping's earlier pledge not to do so.
At the end of a three-day trip to China, where the top US diplomat met with top Chinese officials, including Xi, for hours on end, Blinken made the remarks to CNN's Kylie Atwood in an interview on Friday, as the two nations navigated a raft of contentious issues ranging from US tech controls to Beijing's support for Moscow.
According to Blinken, he reiterated a message from President Joe Biden to President Xi at their November summit in San Francisco, asking him to refrain from meddling in the US presidential election of 2024. Then, as CNN reported, Xi had promised that China would not do so.
When asked if China was breaking Xi's promise to Biden thus far, Blinken responded, “We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that’s cut off as quickly as possible."
“Any interference by China in our election is something that we’re looking very carefully at and is totally unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure that they heard that message again,” Blinken stated. He also expressed concern about China and other nations using influence campaigns to take advantage of social divisions already present in the US.
Beijing has consistently maintained that it does not meddle in US elections, citing its non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations as justification. China and individuals thought to be associated with Beijing have faced accusations of meddling in political affairs in other nations, including Canada.
The latest in a series of high-level meetings that culminated in the Biden-Xi summit late last year, Blinken's visit marks his second visit to the nation in less than a year. During these meetings, the two nations began to restore their severely reduced bilateral communications.
Blinken told CNN, “We are (now) focused on areas where we’re working to cooperate, but also we’re being very forthright about our differences and that’s important if we’re going to avoid the competition we’re in turning into conflict."
Support for Russia
Blinken added that he used the meeting to express the Biden administration's concerns regarding China's backing of Russia's defense industrial base and to emphasize that, should this support persist, additional measures by the US would be implemented in addition to the current sanctions imposed on over 100 Chinese companies and individuals.
According to the US, Russia is able to continue its assault on Ukraine by increasing the production of tanks, weapons, and armoured vehicles, thanks to Chinese assistance. China has previously denounced the US for levelling "baseless accusations" regarding "normal trade and economic exchanges" between the two countries.
Pro-Palestine protests
When questioned about the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have sprung up on US college campuses in recent days amid growing concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Blinken also defended the right of Americans to protest.
In response to a query about allegations that antisemitic language was used at some of these events, Blinken stated that while there had been instances of overt antisemitism, “protests in and of themselves are not antisemitic.”
He added, “What we’re also seeing is people, young people, people from different walks of life, who do feel very passionately, who’ve had very strong emotions about (the conflict)."
Without specifically mentioning China's dearth of freedoms, he emphasized the value of such expression in democracies.
“In our country, and in our society and in our democracy, giving expression to that is, of course, something that’s both appropriate and protected,” he said. “But we’ve certainly seen instances where that has clearly veered from a totally legitimate expression of views and beliefs, to in some instances, yes, clear expressions of antisemitism.”
War on Gaza
When asked if the administration would think about not supplying weapons to Israel, as some protestors are demanding, he responded negatively. “No we are focused on what’s in the interests of the United States. How do we best reflect both our interests and our values in our foreign policy across the board, whether that’s with Israel, or with anyone else,” Blinken said.
In response to a question regarding ending the conflict in Gaza, Blinken stated that Hamas must determine whether to approve the continuation of a ceasefire after the organization rejected several proposals for agreements. Additionally, he stated that tensions in the region appeared to be easing after what appeared to be tit-for-tat airstrikes between Israel and Iran earlier this month, which intensified concerns that the Gaza War might turn into a larger conflict.
Blinken stated, “I think now, hopefully, we are not seeing that kind of escalation,” adding that Hamas may have been considering such an escalation when it turned down Israel's offer to take hostages.
A two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, as well as a framework for normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia could be implemented before a ceasefire in Gaza is put in place, according to Blinken.
“Certainly that’s, that’s possible,” Blinken said. “Ceasefire or not we’ll continue to make these possibilities known. But in order to actually realize this, there’s going to have to be an end of the conflict in Gaza. And as I said, there’s also going to have to be a resolution to the Palestinian question, or at least an agreement on how to resolve it.”
US officials had stated that prior to any further regional efforts taking shape, an agreement needed to be reached in the ongoing negotiations to secure a ceasefire.
Blinken spoke of a future in which "Israel is genuinely integrated in the region, where other countries are helping to make sure it's defended," referring to the nations that rushed to its defense following Iran's aerial attack on April 13.
However, that also necessitates an end to the Gaza conflict and a well-defined route toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. Under that scenario, Israel achieves the goal it has pursued since its founding: normal relations with neighbouring nations," he stated.
In order to possibly reach a historic agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war, Blinken cited the US's persistent efforts to work toward normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“We’ve been working intensively to flesh it out, working with our partners, working – with European partners on this as well. And I think the more concrete it becomes, and the more it moves from the hypothetical and theoretical to something that’s actually possible, that’s real, then everyone involved is actually going to have to make decisions and make choices. And so we’re doing this work. And we’re trying to make it as real as possible,” Blinken said.
