A Washington-based Asian diplomat who regularly interacts with Chinese diplomats and granted anonymity to speak candidly said they were hearing that Beijing wasn’t particularly rankled by Trump’s speech.
“China is pushing back hard in words, but they are still open to talks,” the person said. “This is noise, not something that will break the September summit.”
Khanna said that he will direct the China committee to investigate Trump’s claims of Chinese interference “now or when in the majority.” Committee Chair John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Some Republicans are urging the administration to look more closely at China’s influence on elections.
The government “needs to do a better job of understanding and disrupting the Chinese Communist Party’s plans,” said Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.). “Everyone — from Congress, to the president, to state and local officials, to FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence community — must have a common understanding of where we’ve failed and succeeded in the past and how to plan accordingly.”
The apparent contradiction in Trump’s accusations of Chinese election tampering while pursuing closer ties with Beijing rankled China hawks in Washington.
“If the president really believes that China was so opposed to him that they tried to swing the election against him in his first term, why is he seeking stable great power relations with Xi Jinping right now?” said Michael Sobolik, a former national security staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “Why did he allow ByteDance to keep control of TikTok’s algorithm? Why is he selling high-end AI chips to China? Why is he revoking a Hong Kong emergency order?”
Trump accused Beijing of “the largest compromise of election data in history” that included efforts to produce “illegal ballots for Joe Biden.” Those moves were part of a plot to ensure he lost the 2020 election as a reprisal for his aggressive trade policy toward China, he added.
