Robert O’Brien says China “would like to see the president lose” (File)
Washington:
Chinese government-linked hackers targeted US electoral infrastructure ahead of the 2020 presidential election, White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said on Sunday, indicating a more active level of Chinese interference presumed.
O’Brien’s comments appeared to go beyond a statement released Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that China was “expanding its influence efforts” and that Russia was already trying to undermine Democratic candidate Joe Biden. But did not specifically accuse Beijing of hacking attempts against US electoral systems.
“They would like to see the president lose,” O’Brien said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”. “China – like Russia, like Iran – has gone into cyber attacks and phishing and that sort of thing in terms of our electoral infrastructure, in terms of websites and that sort of thing.”
China has always denied claims by the US government that it is hacking US businesses, politicians or government agencies. “The US presidential election is an internal affair, we have no interest in intervening in it,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in April.
O’Brien said the United States has seen hackers attempt to infiltrate websites belonging to the Secretary of State’s offices across the country, which are responsible for administering elections locally and collecting data. data on Americans.
“It’s a real concern and it’s not just Russia,” he said. “There will be grave consequences for any country that attempts to interfere in our free and fair elections.”
The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ODNI declined to comment or clarify whether O’Brien’s comments contradict theirs.
ODNI had previously said the “adversaries” sought to compromise the private communications of US political candidates and penetrate US electoral systems ahead of the November elections. And that China prefers President Donald Trump does not win re-election.
Numerous reviews by U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia acted to boost Trump’s campaign in 2016 and undermine the chances of rival Hillary Clinton in this election.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
