China dismissed US President Donald Trump's allegations of election interference as baseless fabrications on Friday, pushing back against his claims that Beijing had unlawfully obtained 220 million American voter records.
Trump told lawmakers on Thursday that the US electoral system faced serious vulnerabilities and called for stricter voting rules, a position with limited backing even among Republicans.
The president said he would release declassified intelligence documents he claims demonstrate Chinese involvement in accessing voter data.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian rejected the accusations outright at a press briefing. "The relevant claims made by the US side are pure fabrications and malicious smears that have long since been proven to be groundless statements," he said.
Lin stressed that China had no motivation to interfere in American elections and had never done so.
He turned the criticism back on Washington, suggesting the US was the real culprit in meddling with other nations' affairs. "The international community sees very clearly who it is that habitually interferes in the internal affairs of other countries," the spokesman noted.
Lin urged Trump's administration to stop what he called baseless smears against China and to avoid weaponising the country in US political debates.
Trump's 2020 election fraud allegations have never gained traction in courts. More than 60 lawsuits produced no evidence of widespread fraud that could have altered the result, while recounts, audits and investigators from his own Justice Department found nothing to support his claims.
The latest statements revive Trump's long-running, unsubstantiated fraud narrative as he gears up for midterm elections that observers expect he may challenge.
