Antony Blinken says he's seen evidence of China attempting to 'influence and interfere' with the 2024 elections despite repeated warnings to Xi Jinping

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. has seen evidence that China is trying to 'influence' and 'interfere' in the November presidential election despite a commitment from leader Xi Jinping not to do so.

'We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that's cut off as quickly as possible,' Blinken told CNN.

'Any interference by China in our election is something that we're looking very carefully at and is totally unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure that they heard that message again,' he noted.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People

When Xi met with President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, he pledged not to interfere in upcoming American presidential contest. 

But a U.S. intelligence report last month warned that China was trying to influence U.S. voters via TikTok and other social media apps.

Many fake accounts, originating in China, were pretending to be American supporters of Donald Trump and pushing various conspiracy theories. 

The report warned China's government may 'attempt to influence the U.S. elections in 2024 at some level because of its desire to sideline critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions.' 

Xi's government has repeatedly denied any election interference. 

Blinken was wrapping up a three-day trip to China where he met with top Chinese officials including Xi.

'We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that's cut off as quickly as possible,' Blinken told CNN 

 During his meeting with the Chinese leader, Blinken emphasized the importance of 'responsibly managing' the differences between the United States and China.

Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about China's support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine , as well as other issues including Taiwan and the South China Sea, human rights and the production and export of synthetic opioid precursors .

He sounded a positive note on recent progress made in bilateral cooperation, including in military communications, counternarcotics and artificial intelligence, on which the two sides agreed to start a dialogue on how to reduce risks from the rapidly emerging technology.

'We are committed to maintaining and strengthening lines of communication to advance that agenda, and again deal responsibly with our differences so we avoid any miscommunications, any misperceptions, any miscalculations,' he said.

But he stressed that 'even as we seek to deepen cooperation, where our interests align, the United States is very clear-eyed about the challenges posed by (China) and about our competing visions for the future. America will always defend our core interests and values.'

Notably, he said he raised ongoing concerns about Beijing's supply of materials, including machine tools and micro electronics, to Moscow that President Vladimir Putin is using to boost Russia's defenses and its war on Ukraine.

'Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China´s support,' Blinken told reporters after his meeting with Xi.

'Fueling Russia´s defense industrial base not only threatens Ukrainian security, it threatens European security,' he added. 'As we´ve told China for some time, ensuring transatlantic security is a core U.S. interest. In our discussions today. I made clear that if China does not address this problem, we will.'

When President Xi met with President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November, he pledged not to interfere in upcoming American presidential contest.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) shakes hands with US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns as he prepares to return to US following a visit to China

Blinken did not elaborate on how the U.S. would address the matter if China did not, but Washington has imposed large numbers of sanctions against Chinese firms for doing business with countries such as Russia, Iran and North Korea.

He said he urged China to use its influence 'to discourage Iran and its proxies from expanding the conflict in the Middle East ' and convince North Korea 'to end its dangerous behavior and engage in dialogue.'

Blinken also discussed with Xi China's maritime maneuvers in the disputed South China Sea, and reiterated 'ironclad' American support for the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia.

Xi stressed that China and the U.S. must seek common ground 'rather than engage in vicious competition.'

'China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous and thriving United States,' the Chinese leader said. 'We hope the U.S. can also look at China´s development in a positive light. This is a fundamental issue that must be addressed.'

Blinken arrived in China on Wednesday, visiting Shanghai shortly before Biden signed the $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger Beijing, including $8 billion to counter China´s growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok´s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform.

China and the United States are the major players in the Indo-Pacific. Washington has become increasingly alarmed by Beijing´s growing aggressiveness in recent years toward Taiwan and its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors with which it has significant territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan and immediately condemned the aid as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force TikTok´s sale, although Blinken said this issue did not come up in his talks on Friday.

The bill also allots $61 billion for Ukraine to defend itself from Russia´s invasion. China's foreign ministry said the U.S. position on Chinese defense trade with Russia was hypocritical when considered alongside the amount of military assistance Washington is providing to Kyiv.

'It is extremely hypocritical and irresponsible for the U.S. side to introduce a bill for large-scale assistance to Ukraine while making groundless accusations against normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Russia,' said ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

'Shifting the blame to China will not solve the problem, nor will it alleviate the passive situation of the parties involved in the Ukraine crisis,' he said.