China rejects being used as “issue” for US presidential election

BEIJING: China rejects being used by the United States as a presidential election “issue”, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday (July 16), in response to a remark made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance.

In one of his first few interviews since being named as Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator Vance on Monday (July 15) branded China as the ‘biggest threat’ to the US and Washington should focus on Beijing as the ‘real issue’ once the Russia-Ukraine crisis is brought to a close.

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing is against the US using China as an election issue, when asked to comment on Vance’s remark.

Trump selected Vance, a staunch conservative as his running mate on Monday, which could help boost turnout for Trump in the Nov. 5 election, particularly in some of the “Rust Belt” states.