Trump accuses China of interfering in US elections ahead of midterms

Just two months before a planned United States-China summit, President Donald Trump on Thursday made unverified claims that Beijing interfered in the 2020 election which he lost.

In an address to the nation, he said he was declassifying documents that showed election vulnerabilities and supported his claims that China had tried to sway the 2020 vote in Joe Biden’s favour.

Trump also used his speech to revive his repeated attacks on the integrity of US elections saying the electoral process was “catastrophically” short of standards of fairness and trust and vulnerable to foreign interference.

His comments come ahead of the November midterm ballot which polls suggest could see significant losses for his Republican party.

Trump accused China of the “illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files” including personal information.

China has denied his claims and the US intelligence community has previously concluded that Beijing did not interfere in the 2020 election.

Experts say that in his speech, Trump notably focused on China but glossed over Russia which intelligence officials say did engage in campaigns favouring him in both the 2016 and 2020 polls.

They warn that the president’s speech was a smokescreen laying the groundwork for him to challenge the outcome of the midterm polls.

Trump also used his address to push for Congress to pass a new restrictive voter ID law which would impose strict ID requirements on voters and seek greater federal intervention in elections.

Election security experts say the US’ decentralised voting system, with the power over elections residing with the states instead of the federal government, is a strength.

Americans vote in more than 10,000 different jurisdictions with different rules, making the nations’ elections extraordinarily complicated but safe from widespread fraud.

No credible intelligence has emerged showing that the vote count in 2020 was manipulated by foreign actors.