Trump's election charge draws sharp rebuke from China, clouds Xi visit

China on Friday rejected US President Donald Trump's allegations that Beijing interfered in American elections, calling the claims a "malicious smear" and urging Washington to stop making what it described as baseless accusations.

Responding to Trump's remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing had consistently adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and had never sought to influence US elections.

"China has always upheld the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and has neither any interest in nor ever interfered in US elections," Lin told a media briefing.

Turning the criticism back on Washington, Lin said the international community was well aware of "who habitually interferes in other countries' internal affairs, indiscriminately conducts long-term surveillance of governments, businesses and ordinary citizens around the world, and steals foreign citizens' data on a massive scale".

"We urge the US side to reflect on its own conduct, stop making baseless accusations against China, refrain from using China as an election issue, and do more to promote China-US relations," he added.

Asked whether Trump's allegations could affect Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to the United States in September, Lin reiterated Beijing's position. "We urge the US to stop making an issue of China in its elections and do something conducive to China-US relations," he said.

Trump visited China in May, when he held talks with Xi. Following the meeting, the Chinese president said the two sides had reached important understandings on maintaining stable economic and trade ties, expanding practical cooperation and properly addressing each other's concerns.

Trump subsequently invited Xi to make a reciprocal visit to the United States in September, an invitation the Chinese leader accepted. However, Chinese analysts said Trump's latest remarks could cast a shadow over the proposed visit.

Zhao Minghao, a professor at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, said Trump appeared to have adopted a tougher tone towards China after returning from Beijing, amid criticism at home that he had been too conciliatory during the trip.

Trump also criticised communism in a speech earlier this week. "All these will have some impact on US-China relations," Zhao told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. "Trump's purpose is, on one hand, to display toughness on China. And on the other, it's also with an eye on this year's midterm elections."

He said the latest attacks, coupled with the Trump administration's tariff investigations into China and continued US arms sales to Taiwan, could complicate Xi's proposed visit.

Diao Daming, an international relations professor at Renmin University of China, said Trump's remarks had done little to sustain the positive momentum generated by the leaders' May summit, during which they agreed to pursue a constructive relationship based on strategic stability.

While the speech appeared to be driven by domestic political considerations, Diao warned that continuing along the same path could undermine "the rare, positive atmosphere in Sino-US relations".

In a primetime address on Thursday, Trump accused China of interfering in the 2020 US presidential election and alleged that Beijing had illicitly acquired the personal information of 220 million American voters. Trump, who was seeking re-election in 2020, was defeated by Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

With PTI inputs