Vice President Mike Pence signaled a firmer US pushback against Beijing as trade anxiety weighs on the looming midterm congressional elections.
Vice President Mike Pence laid out allegations of Chinese election interference in a harshly worded speech Thursday, signaling a firmer U. S. pushback against Beijing as trade anxiety weighs on the looming midterm congressional elections.
Pence accused China of ‘‘a whole-of-government approach’’ to sway American public opinion, including spies, tariffs, coercive measures and a propaganda campaign. The speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington represented some of the most critical remarks about China by such a high-ranking U. S. official in recent memory.
‘‘There can be no doubt,’’ he said, ‘‘China is meddling in America’s democracy.’’
‘‘Beijing has mobilized covert actors, front groups, and propaganda outlets to shift Americans’ perception of Chinese policy,’’ Pence said. ‘‘As a senior career member of our intelligence community recently told me, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country.’’
Pence’s speech is the latest sign of deteriorating ties between the U. S. and China, as the two nuclear powers tussle over everything from trade to Taiwan and the South China Sea. The disputes have fueled concern in Beijing and Washington that U. S. President Donald Trump’s trade fight could, if left unchecked, foster a new Cold War between the world’s two biggest economies.
Pence said China’s goal is ‘‘nothing less than to push the United States of America from the Western Pacific and attempt to prevent us from coming to the aid of our allies.’’
He called on Google to cancel its ‘‘Dragonfly’’ project, an internet search engine for Chinese consumers that would filter out results objectionable to China’s government. The app would ‘‘strengthen the Communist Party’s censorship and compromise the privacy of Chinese customers,’’ Pence said.
Pence spoke days after Trump himself accused China of attempting to meddle in the 2018 midterm elections. The remarks underscore administration concern that anxiety over the trade battle could hurt Republican performance in the Nov. 6 vote.
‘‘Going into elections, Trump has got to look like a strong leader and it helps to have an enemy abroad — this is a truism of international relations,’’ said Rosita Dellios, an associate international relations professor at Bond University in Gold Coast, Australia.
