Chinese Envoy Says US Charge of Election Interference 'Groundless'

China's ambassador to the U.S. says many accusations the Trump administration has made against Beijing are "groundless", including election interference.

"One of the fundamental principles in China's foreign policy is non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries," Ambassador Cui Tiankai told Fox television Sunday. "We have been consistent in this position. We have a very good track record."

Without presenting any tangible evidence of Chinese election interference, the White House has accused China of trying to turn voters away from the Republicans in next month's election.

It also calls the China Daily insert in many U.S. newspapers propaganda.

Cui called the newspaper section a page out of the U.S. media playbook -- buying commercial pages in newspapers to make one's views known.

He also denied the U.S. and China are involved in a trade war, despite the tit-for-tat exchanges of huge tariffs on each other exports.

He said Americans have to look at the "whole picture," pointing out how much money U.S. companies have made in China over the years.

The ambassador also denied China steals intellectual property from the U.S., days after a senior Chinese intelligence officer was extradited to the U.S. for allegedly trying to steal secrets from American aviation companies.

Cui says such charges are "unfair" to the Chinese people.

"China has 1.4 billion people. It would be hard to imagine that one-fifth of the global population could develop and not prosper, not by relying mainly on their own efforts, but by stealing or forcing some transfer of technology from others. That's impossible."

The ambassador also accused the U.S. of stoking military tensions by sending its ships into the South China Sea near Chinese territory, saying there are no Chinese ships hovering around the Gulf of Mexico or off the California coast.

But despite tensions and disagreements, Ambassador Cui said U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi have a "good mutual understanding and a good working relationship" that he is sure will continue.