[ad_1]
About six weeks after President Trump accused China of trying to interfere in the mid-term elections to hurt Republicans, there was little public evidence to support this claim. But now that the Democrats are about to control the House in January, the White House issue is far from settled and the alleged interference in US affairs in Beijing should be at the center of Trump's concerns in the US. weeks and months to come.
"Campaigns of political interference in China are vast and deep," a senior administration official told Yahoo News, adding that the president "would continue to take steps to combat the interference foreign. "
The Trump administration clearly has political advantages in arousing the specter of Chinese interference, especially after an election that is not up to the White House. But Beijing's activities also raise legitimate concerns, even though most analysts and experts do not believe that China's actions are reaching the level of a campaign of electoral interference.
Several sources, both inside and outside the White House, suggested that the president's previous warnings on the issue had not been taken more seriously, even though Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had all two discussed the threat of Chinese electoral interference.
The sources cited Trump's September speech at the United Nations, accusing China of "attempting to interfere in the upcoming 2018 elections against my administration in November," as well as a speech delivered by the US government. Vice President Mike Pence in a big China. political speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington in October. In his remarks, Mr. Pence accused Beijing of participating in "an unprecedented effort to influence the American public, the 2018 elections and the environment leading up to the presidential election. 2020 '.
As a result of these dramatic speeches, more attention was paid to Trump's commercial battles with China, which were also addressed in these remarks. However, for many in the president's orbit, the threat of political interference from China still weighs heavily.
Trump has "done everything possible" to signal the interference of Chinese elections in his American speech, said a former official, who claimed to be certain that China had tried to influence the 2018 races.
"They probably intermingled in 2016 in my opinion," added the former manager, without providing details.
Yet the threat of real electoral inference, at least publicly, was vague at best.
According to a Trump advisor, national security officials had been discussing possible Chinese interference in the midterm elections, but declined to discuss it further. "It would be a big problem for the Chinese to know what we know," said the official.
President Donald at the US Security Council meeting on September 26. On the right, the United States Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley. (Photo: Craig Ruttle / AP)
However, not all members of the Trump administration are convinced. Three other national security officials said they saw no evidence of China's interference in the elections.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The speeches of Trump and Pence do not have nor did he provide much to support their claims, although the Vice-President's comments are more detailed.He provided two examples of what he called electoral interference – a insert paid by the Chinese government and published in the Des Moines Register, claiming that Trump's economic policy in China was bad for voters in Iowa and that Chinese retaliatory tariffs were specifically aimed at Trump's base – analysts have certainly said that they represent a pressure campaign, but do not do it data-reactid = "44"> The speeches of Trump and Pence also did not bring much to support their claims, although the Vice-President's comments are more detailed. He gave two examples of what he called electoral interference – inset paid by the Chinese government and published in the Des Moines register, claiming that Trump's economic policy in China was bad for voters. Iowa, and that Chinese retaliatory tariffs specifically targeting the Trump base – which, according to analysts, certainly represent a campaign pressure, but do not appear to be an electoral interference.
The senior Trump administration also cited a concrete example, an incident in which the Chinese Communist Party "forced Marriott to close its websites and applications in Chinese for a week after one of their state-based employees "Liked" a tweet about Tibet.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "There is little public evidenceHowever, there is little evidence of public opinion of a large-scale campaign to interfere in mid-term reviews. "data-reactid =" 49 ">
<p class = "canvas-atom-text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "It is reasonable that Trump is concerned about this is clearly a Chinese government's effort to put pressure on the American electorate, said Jonas Parello-Plesner, a member of the Hudson Institute and author of a June article report about the Chinese Communist Party's interference operations in democracies. "data-reactid =" 50 "> It is reasonable that Trump is worried about what is clearly an effort by the Chinese government to put pressure on the American electorate, said Jonas Parello-Plesner of the Hudson Institute and author of a June report on the Chinese Communist Party's interference operations in democracies.
The United States is clearly the target of the Chinese government's efforts for broader political interference, which, unlike direct election interference, is "much more about ensuring the security of elites in the United States." democracies subject to the rise of China, "he said. pay attention to the global issue.
But, he said, "I do not think we were subjected to specific interference in the Chinese elections."
The White House included China, as well as Russia and Iran, as the only countries to be named at the press conference organized by a group of officials on electoral security efforts in previous months. However, in this call, a senior manager of the administration made a distinction between the "efforts of influence" and the "interferences" election. Nevertheless, the official noted that "one or the other of these phenomena could result in sanctions" under a decree aimed at combating "foreign interference in an election to United States "that President Trump signed in September. The authorities believe that China's behavior is a campaign of influence rather than an attack on our electoral systems, in line with the efforts of Russia's intelligence community.
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2017. (Photo: Andrew Harnik / AP)
This executive order also provided a roadmap for the Trump administration to return to the subject of China's campaign of influence. It asked the Director of National Intelligence Services to make an assessment within 45 days of the election of "information indicating that a foreign government or any person acting as an agent or on behalf of a foreign government". a foreign government had acted with the intention of intervening in this election. A follow-up report was commissioned to be given to the president.
Abigail Grace, who worked until early this year in the Asia division of the National Security Council, wants the White House to provide detailed public evidence of Chinese electoral interference before raising the issue. Grace believes that a non-partisan investigation by the FBI on China's interference should be conducted and that any finding should be made public in a declassified report.
"People have the right to ask for facts to support their claims," Grace told Yahoo News.
To argue that China intervened in the elections could prove politically advantageous for the president, diverting attention from the growing number of statements that Russia has intervened in the run-up to the presidential election. 2016 to help Trump. And Chinese interference could also be used to undermine democratic gains mid-term.
<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Before the democratic takeover of the House by Tuesday night , the White House turned to a Trump strategy employed in the 2016 presidential campaign& nbsp; – preemptive questioning of the validity of the election. Asset raised the specter of "illegal voting" and warned The forces of the order must closely monitor the polling stations. "data-reactid =" 69 "> Before the Chamber of Deputies took control on Tuesday evening, the White House turned its attention to a strategy used by Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign – Trump's preventive questioning raised the specter of "illegal voting" and warned law enforcement to closely monitor polling places.
If the White House is not happy with the results, it may want to argue stronger for Chinese interference, according to a Trump ally.
"It would be very logical to amplify this message after the elections," said the person.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Up to now, however, this n & # 39; 39, has not yet taken place, and a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security on the mid-term day said that there had been no evidence of foreign interference. "Data-reactid =" 72 "> However, that has not happened yet, and a briefing by the Department of Homeland Security on mid-day revealed that there was no no evidence of foreign interference.
Grace, a former security chief at the White House, said she would hate to see the White House use Chinese electoral interference, no matter how strong the evidence emerges.
"In today's hyper-polarized environment, it would be a mistake to use Chinese electoral interference as a partisan political argument. It would reduce the discussion, "said Grace. "I hope they will not do it."
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "_____"data-reactid =" 75 ">_____
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Learn more about Yahoo New:"data-reactid =" 76 ">Learn more about Yahoo New:
[ad_2]Source link
