China: Accusations of meddling with US elections are ridiculous

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China slams a series of accusations from US Vice President Mike Pence regarding next month's congressional elections, cyberattacks, the South China Sea and Taiwan, saying his arguments are fabricated rumors and totally groundless.

Just hours later, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded by saying that Pence's speech is based on hearsay evidence and fabricated rumors rather than China's actual domestic and foreign policies, and China strongly rejects such groundless accusations.

US Vice President Mike Pence addresses the Washington-based Hudson Institute, October 4, 2018. /AP Photo

China: We are not interested in interfering US politics

Hua said China always upholds "non-interference" principles and it has no interests in interfering American politics.

China is committed to building world peace and growth, and its overseas economic and diplomatic activities did not and will not sacrifice other countries' interests, she said.

China will follow its own path of development and will continue to endeavor in reform and opening-up and will cooperate with countries globally, she said, adding that "any efforts to undermine China's development can only end in vain."

The spokeswoman also urged the US to take a constructive role in the bilateral ties.

Taiwan is an inseparable part of China

There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of it, Hua said when responding to Taiwan related issues brought out by Vice President Pence.

The US side has absolutely no legitimate right to make any irresponsible remarks on the relations between the related countries and China, which have been developed under the basis of the one-China principle.

China's legitimate right to deploy military facilities for defense in its territorial islands

China has reiterated its stance on the South China Sea issue, noting that it is the country's legitimate right to deploy military facilities for defense in its own territorial islands.

It's within China's sovereignty to deploy troops and weapons on our islands and reefs in the South China Sea. It's allowed by international law and has absolutely nothing to do with so-called "militarizing."

"We urge the United States to stop creating tensions while respecting the efforts made by relevant parties through negotiation and consultation," Hua said.

China takes great care and promotes human rights

It is indisputable that the Chinese people of all ethnic groups have fully enjoyed freedom in terms of religious belief.

China has also pledged to continue to respect and protect the freedom of religious belief as a basic policy of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government.

The Chinese spokesperson said the US should stop using its own human rights and religion-related issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.

Pence: Accused China of meddling US elections, with limited evidence

Addressing Washington's Hudson Institute on Thursday, Pence said China was waging a sophisticated effort to sway the elections against the Republicans in retaliation for President Donald Trump's trade policies.

US Vice President Mike Pence in Washington, DC, September 5, 2018. /VCG Photo

He vowed to continue to expose Beijing's "malign influence and interference."

Pence said Beijing, with an eye not only to the congressional elections but also to Trump's 2020 re-election bid, had “mobilized covert actors, front groups, and propaganda outlets to shift Americans' perception of Chinese policies” and was targeting its tariffs to hurt states where Trump has strong support.

"China wants a different American president," Pence said.

In Pence's long list of accusations, he picked on China's investment in Africa, saying Beijing is using "debt diplomacy" and "is employing a whole-of-government approach to advance its influence and benefit its interests."

Speaking of the South China Sea, Pence said China had deployed anti-ship and anti-air missiles on artificial islands in the water, despite promises not to militarize them.

Referring to an incident on Sunday in which a Chinese warship was deployed to warn a US vessel to leave the waters of the Nansha Islands, Pence claimed it was China's latest attempt to limit freedom of navigation.

He also accused Beijing of convincing three Latin American countries to recognize Beijing as the legitimate and sole government of China, not Taipei.

Experts said...

“It really takes away any neutral ground. It's quite noticeable that the Chinese response has been very measured and restrained in comparison,” said current affairs commentator Einar Tangen during a studio interview with CGTN.

The Trump administration is getting desperate in trying to scapegoat China for everything that goes wrong in the US. Is there a pattern to the US' "concerns" regarding China, and what is truly behind the comments?

Some believe the United States feels threatened by China's rise. Current affairs commentator Victor Gao said, “China will become a bigger country, more powerful country than the United States. That's coming along. Whatever the United States is doing, it cannot stop that."

(CGTN's Shao Cong and Ma Ke contributed to this article.)