'Trump was briefed about China bribing non-state actors to attack US forces in Afghanistan'

Washington [US], January 1 : As relations between Washington and Beijing continue to head in the downward direction, a senior (Trump) administration official said that US President Donald Trump was aware of 'unconfirmed information' that China had offered to pay "non-state actors" to attack US forces stationed in Afghanistan.
The administration official said that the intelligence, which is set to be declassified by the Trump administration, was provided to Trump on December 17 and his national security adviser Robert O'Brien discussed the information with the President that same day, as reported by CNN.
However, Beijing denied the charges with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin calling it "complete nonsense and completely fake news."
The American media outlet further reported that the administration's intention to declassify the information was first reported on Wednesday by Axios.
However, the information about this alleged intelligence has no evidence. "The scenario is reminiscent of reports earlier this year that Russia allegedly offered Afghan militants bounties to kill US forces in Afghanistan. That information also appeared in the President's intelligence briefing although it was later revealed that the information likely went unnoticed for weeks," CNN reported.
Wang said China "has always pursued an independent foreign policy of peace" and "never initiated a war to others, let alone funded non-state actors to attack other countries."
"China supports the process of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, and does not get involved in the internal conflicts in Afghanistan," he added.
An official from President-elect Joe Biden told CNN that while they would not speak to the alleged intelligence reporting, nor the motivation behind "the release of what is reported to be uncorroborated information," the President-elect "has no greater concern than the safety of our service members".
"Our teams will seek to learn as much as we can about these allegations from the outgoing administration, and this is another illustration of why we need full cooperation, including from the Department of Defense," CNN quoted the official added, referring to the contentious transition process between incoming Biden and outgoing Trump defense officials.
The White House has not commented on the situation.
In June this year, it was reported that the Russian intelligence officers for the military intelligence agency GRU had recently offered money to Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan as rewards to kill US and UK troops, as per the information provided by a European intelligence official.
The reports of China offering cash for attacks on US forces come as China awaits whether Biden will embrace Trump's more punitive policies towards the nation or move to reset relations between Washington and Beijing.
News of China offering cash for attacks on US forces comes as China awaits whether Biden will embrace Trump's more punitive policies towards the nation or move to reset relations between Washington and Beijing.
Biden's campaign website slams technology companies "facilitating repression in China," and promises foreign policy "pressuring China -- the world's largest emitter of carbon -- to stop subsidizing coal exports and outsourcing their pollution to other countries."
"To win the competition for the future against China or anyone else, we must sharpen our innovative edge and unite the economic might of democracies around the world to counter abusive economic practices," it states.
According to CNN, a Biden campaign ad in June accused Trump of getting "played" by China. And during the Democratic primaries in February, Biden referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "thug," and said that Beijing had to "play by the rules."
These developments of China offering the Taliban terrorists money to kill US troops stationed in Afghanistan comes after a series of increasing tensions between the US and China after Washington has hit out at Beijing for hiding vital information pertaining to COVID-19.
Trump, earlier in December, hinted that Beijing had a role to play in the recent cyberattacks on federal government agencies rather than Russia, as was being.