CHINA/ELECTION/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday [9-26-18] that China is working to interfere in November’s midterm elections with the aim of damaging him politically…The President offered scant details or evidence, which came during a session meant to focus on issues of nonproliferation. He suggested the meddling attempts came as retribution for the budding trade war he has waged with Beijing…Speaking after Trump, China’s representative on the Security Council denied attempts to interfere in US elections…A senior administration official on Wednesday sought to further flesh out Trump’s allegation that China ‘has been attempting to interfere’ in the 2018 midterm elections, but offered no concrete evidence to back up the President’s claim. None of the activities the official described rose to the level of Russia’s coordinated campaign to influence voters in 2016 in support of Trump’s candidacy. Instead, the official lumped in longstanding practices of the Chinese government and reiterated the administration’s belief that Chinese tariffs targeting regions in the US that supported the President in 2016 amount to election interference”
–Kevin Liptak and Jeremy Diamond, “Trump says China is interfering in midterm elections,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, September 26, 2018 2:34 pm