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Reuters

China has taken the most active role among countries seeking to interfere in the US election and has the biggest programme to influence domestic politics, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said on Friday, without providing any details.
“We know the Chinese have taken the most active role,” O’Brien told reporters at a briefing.
He said China “had the most massive programme to influence the United States politically”, followed by Iran and then Russia.
US intelligence found that Russia orchestrated a cyber campaign to sway the 2016 presidential election in Republican Donald Trump’s favour and there have been reports hackers may try to influence the election on November 3.
Moscow has denied interfering in 2016.
“We’ve made it very clear to the Chinese, to the Russians, to the Iranians and others that haven’t been publicly disclosed that anyone … that attempts to interfere with the American elections will face extraordinary consequences,” O’Brien said.


Trump-appointed Attorney General William Barr said on Wednesday he believed China was more of a threat than Russia when it came to election interference, also without offering details.
In August, O’Brien said Washington had seen Chinese hackers targeting US election infrastructure.
China has consistently denied US government charges that it hacks American companies, politicians or government agencies. Asked to comment on O’Brien’s latest remarks, its embassy referred to a foreign ministry statement last month that China has no interest in interfering in the US election.
Trump, who long touted his friendly ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping as he sought to make good on trade deal promises, has made getting tough on Beijing a key part of his campaign for re-election in November and blames China over the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese officials will be brought to account if I’m next US president: Biden
In a speech to the Republican National Convention last month, Trump said that Beijing supports his Democratic opponent Joe Biden and “desperately” wants him to win the election.
Asked to provide specific details of Chinese election interference, O’Brien said:
“I am not going to go into all the intelligence, but the massive activities of the Chinese and cyber realm, it’s really an extraordinary thing that we’re facing.”
He called the scope of Chinese activity “relentless”.
“We’ve never seen anything like it. It was nothing like this in the Cold War with the Soviets.”
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that hackers had stepped up efforts to knock Trump campaign and business websites offline ahead of the US election, in what a security firm working for the campaign said could be preparation for a larger digital assault.


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US presidential election 2020

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Postal vote election workers stuff applications at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo: AFP

US national security adviser Robert O’Brien. Photo: Reuters

US elections: whether Trump or Biden wins, China policies won’t change much, experts say

Illustration: Kuen Lau

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump arrives to deliver his acceptance speech for the Republican Party nomination for reelection during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on August 27, 2020. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Ely Ratner is an adviser to Joe Biden. Photo: Center for a New American Security

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are entering a 64-day sprint to the finish that is widely expected to be one of the most turbulent and chaotic periods in the modern history of American politics. Each side cast the other as an existential threat to America’s future as they offered voters starkly different versions of reality over the last two weeks of carefully scripted conventions. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

(200826) -- BEIJING, Aug. 26, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, speaks during a ceremony to confer the police flag on China's police force at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Biden’s Democrats talk tough on China, but see different measures than Trump

Democratic US presidential candidate and former Vice-President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 14. Photo: Reuters

A banner is seen on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware on August 18, 2020. - US Democrats opened their nominating convention on August 17, 2020 with a show of unity behind Joe Biden and former first lady Michelle Obama delivering a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump as she urged voters to reject his politics of 'division.' (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP)

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 file photo, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden hold T-shirts given to them by students during their visit to the International Studies Learning Center in South Gate, Calif. On Friday, May 22, 2020, The Associated Press reported on manipulated photos circulating online altered to show Biden and Xi holding up T-shirts that say "I (Heart) China." At the actual event, the Chinese text translates in English to "China America two countries friendship everlasting," while the other reads, "Fostering goodwill between America & China." (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

US President Donald Trump speaks during the signing ceremony for a proclamation on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC on August 18, 2020. - The 19th Amendment was created giving women in the United States the constitutional right to vote. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)

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Robert O’Brien said Beijing has the biggest programme to influence domestic politics
He called the scope of Chinese activity ‘relentless’



Robert O’Brien said Beijing has the biggest programme to influence domestic politics.


China actively trying to interfere in US election, national security adviser says

Robert O’Brien said Beijing has the biggest programme to influence domestic politics He called the scope of Chinese activity ‘relentless’

Robert O’Brien said Beijing has the biggest programme to influence domestic politics

He called the scope of Chinese activity ‘relentless’