Author Gordon Chang says China is meddling in the 2020 presidential election in favor of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s campaign, and not surprisingly, President Trump agrees.
Mr. Chang, a prominent China hawk, said Sunday that Bejing has been far more active than Russia and Iran in seeking to influence the U.S. election and that the tenor is “very anti-Trump,” prompting a Monday response from the president.
“Of course they want Biden,” tweeted Mr. Trump, who retweeted a Breitbart article on Mr. Chang’s interview Sunday with New York WABC radio host John Catsimatidis.
“I have taken $Billions from China and given it to our Farmers and U.S. Treasury,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “China would own the U.S. if Biden & Hunter got in!”
Gordon Chang: China Seems ’to Be Favoring Joe Biden’ in Presidential Election https://t.co/LmXVsqOJzP via @BreitbartNews. Of course they want Biden. I have taken $Billions from China and given it to our Farmers and U.S. Treasury. China would own the U.S. if Biden & Hunter got in!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2020
In the interview, Mr. Chang said China, Russia and Iran are all involved in influencing U.S. protests as well as the Nov. 3 election, but “it’s clear that China’s effort is so much greater than the other two.”
“We always talk about Russian interference, and I’m sure that Russia is trying to interfere one way or another, but China’s effort dwarfs those of Moscow and Iran,” said Mr. Chang, a columnist and author of the 2001 book “The Coming Collapse of China.”
In addition, “I think that Beijing has decided that it’s voting for the Democratic Party candidate,” he said, referring to Mr. Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee.
“We can see the trend of Chinese propaganda, which is very anti-Trump, looking like it’s trying to unseat the president,” Mr. Chang said. “Also, from what little evidence we have about China’s troll farm activity, with its bots and with all of its others, they seem to be favoring Vice President Biden, trying to make life very difficult for President Trump, as well as fueling the protests of course.”
He noted that Twitter removed more than 170,000 fake Chinese accounts in June, and “that’s one social-media platform in one month.”
“I think that gives you a sense of how large the Chinese effort is,” Mr. Chang said. “It really is much larger than those of Russia.”
Mr. Biden has adopted a tougher line on China during the campaign, calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “thug” in a February primary debate, while Mr. Trump has accused the Obama administration of being soft on China.
In an Aug. 17 statement, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told Fox News that “China poses a greater national security threat to the U.S. than any other nation — economically, militarily and technologically.”
“That includes threats of election influence and interference,” Mr. Ratcliffe said.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized Hunter Biden for his involvement in a business deal while his father was vice president with the Chinese investment fund BHR, founded in 2013, which reportedly sought to raise $1.5 billion.
In an October 2019 analysis, FactCheck.org said that “Biden’s attorney claims that Hunter Biden made no money off the deal while his father served as vice president, and has yet to see any return on his investment. We cannot verify either statement, and we can’t say how much Hunter Biden might ultimately make from his 10% stake in BHR.”
“But while Trump has called on China to open an investigation, there has been no evidence presented to date that suggests either Biden did anything illegal,” said the fact-check.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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