US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said that hackers linked to the Chinese government are targeting the infrastructure for the US presidential elections scheduled for next November.
O'Brien said in an interview with the American "CBS" network that "China - like Russia and Iran - has been involved in cyber attacks, fraud and other matters related to the infrastructure of our elections, such as websites and so on." And he believed that those outside powers "want to lose President (Donald Trump) ".
O'Brien’s comments came on the heels of a similar statement issued Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, but did not amount to accusing Beijing specifically of piracy of the election system.
The intelligence statement said that China is "working to expand its efforts" to influence the US elections through electronic campaigns and disinformation, and that Russia is trying to undermine Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Trump's rival.
As for the National Security Adviser, he said that the United States witnessed piracy attempts at websites belonging to the State Department offices around the country, which run elections at the local level and collect data from the American people.
That, O'Brien said, "is a real concern. It's not just Russia." "There will be dire consequences for any country seeking to interfere in our free and fair elections," he added.
China has always denied the US government's allegations that it is carrying out piracy operations to infiltrate US companies, politicians and government agencies. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said last April that "the American presidential elections are an internal matter, and we do not seek to interfere in them."