China on Friday rejected President Trump’s claim that it had meddled in American elections as baseless. But its response was relatively restrained, a sign that Beijing did not want to let the accusation derail a thaw in relations that both sides have spent months trying to preserve.

周五，中国驳斥了特朗普总统关于中国干预美国大选的指控，称其毫无根据。但北京的回应相对克制，表明它不愿让这一指控破坏双方数月来共同努力维护的关系回暖势头。

Mr. Trump had said in a speech that China had carried out “the largest compromise of election data in history” starting with the 2020 cycle, one of several claims he made that was either overstated or untethered from reality.

特朗普在一次演讲中声称，中国从2020年大选周期开始实施了“史上最大规模的选举数据入侵”，这是他提出的诸多夸大其词或脱离事实的指控之一。

In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, said that China had “no interest in interfering in the U.S. elections and has never done so,” adding that the claims “are aimed at vilifying China.” It leveled a vague accusation back at Washington for “wantonly” interfering in other countries.

在北京，外交部发言人林剑表示，中国“没有兴趣也从未干涉美国大选”，并称这些指控“无端抹黑中国”。与此同时，中方也反过来对华盛顿提出了一项笼统的指责，称美国“动辄”干涉他国内政。

The response was firm but made no demands for retractions or threats of punishment. On China’s social media, commentators who are usually stridently nationalist were mostly quiet.

中方的回应措辞强硬，但并未要求美方撤回言论，也未发出惩罚威胁。在中国社交媒体上，平时高调的民族主义评论人士大多保持沉默。

China experts said this showed that Beijing saw Mr. Trump’s speech as an attempt at playing to American voters ahead of midterm elections, rather than a broadside directed at China.

中国问题专家表示，这表明北京方面认为特朗普的演讲是中期选举前向美国选民进行的政治表演，而非针对中国的猛烈抨击。

It also underscored a desire on Beijing’s part to maintain a truce that was struck in May during a summit between Mr. Trump and China’s top leader, Xi Jinping.

这也凸显出北京方面希望维持今年5月特朗普与中国最高领导人习近平在峰会上达成的休战局面。

Mr. Trump’s rhetoric on China during his address was “definitely harsh,” said Sun Yun, a scholar of China at the Stimson Center, a research group in Washington. But Mr. Trump had built up so much good will in recent months, she added, “there is some resilience in the relationship.”

华盛顿智库史汀生中心的中国问题专家孙韵表示，特朗普在演讲中对中国的措辞“确实强硬”。但她又说，特朗普近几个月已经积累了大量善意，“双边关系具有一定的韧性”。

Playing the China Card

打中国牌

From Beijing’s perspective, Mr. Trump was taking aim at China for domestic political reasons, experts said. Officials in China understand that the Republicans are under pressure ahead of the midterm elections.

专家们表示，从北京的角度来看，特朗普是出于国内政治目的而将矛头对准中国。中国官员明白，共和党在中期选举前面临压力。

Chinese state media commentaries have argued that Mr. Trump has lost some of the support of his political base following his military intervention in Venezuela and the war in Iran. They have noted that he has failed to keep factory jobs at home, while consumers “bear higher fuel costs and inflation.”

中国官方媒体评论称，在对委内瑞拉进行军事干预以及发动伊朗战争之后，特朗普已经失去了部分政治基本盘的支持。他们还指出，特朗普未能把制造业岗位留在国内，同时消费者却“承受着更高的燃料成本和通货膨胀”。

Viewed through this lens, Mr. Trump’s speech was an attempt at mobilizing voters by fanning the idea of foreign intervention, said Wu Xinbo, an American studies scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai.

上海复旦大学美国研究专家吴心伯表示，从这个角度来看，特朗普的演讲是通过渲染外国干预的论调来动员选民。

“Trump played this card mainly for domestic politics, it was not aimed at China-U.S. relations,” said Mr. Wu, adding that this was something Chinese officials would likely not respond to if it was a one-off.

“特朗普打这张牌主要是为了国内政治，并不是针对中美关系，”吴心伯说。他还表示，如果这只是偶发性的言论，中国官方很可能不会作出回应。

5月，特朗普与中国领导人习近平在北京人民大会堂。

Documents released by the White House that Mr. Trump said bolstered his claims suggest there is evidence of a pro-China influence effort and that Beijing was skeptical of President Trump. But that was a minority perspective inside the intelligence agencies, and the intelligence officers who held that view said they had only low or medium confidence in their assessments.

特朗普表示，白宫公布的文件为他的指控提供了支持。这些文件显示，确有证据表明存在一场亲华的影响力行动，而且北京方面当时对特朗普总统也持怀疑态度。不过，这只是美国情报机构内部的一种少数意见，而持这一观点的情报人员也表示，他们对这一评估只有低到中等程度的信心。

China Wants to Preserve the Stability

中国希望维持关系稳定

The U.S.-China relationship steadied in October after Beijing agreed to suspend its limits on exports of rare earth metals and Washington halved tariffs on China related to fentanyl. “We’re not going to hurt China,” Mr. Trump said at the time.

去年10月，在北京同意暂停对稀土金属出口的限制、华盛顿将涉及芬太尼的对华关税削减一半之后，中美关系趋于平稳。“我们不会伤害中国，”特朗普当时表示。

After Mr. Trump met with Mr. Xi in Beijing, China said both sides had agreed that U.S. tariffs would not rise further. They agreed on a relationship based on “constructive strategic stability,” a vague term meant to signal that both sides would limit hostilities.

特朗普在北京与习近平举行会晤后，中方表示，双方同意美国不会进一步提高对华关税。双方还同意建立一种以“建设性战略稳定”为基础的关系。这是一个措辞较为模糊的表述，但意在表明双方都会限制敌对行为。

During his trip, Mr. Trump invited Mr. Xi to the White House on Sept. 24, a meeting that officials are now working toward. Beijing expects the upcoming visit to help improve trade ties.

访华期间，特朗普邀请习近平于9月24日访问白宫，目前双方官员正为此次会晤做准备。北京期待这次访问能够进一步改善双边贸易关系。

Any disruption to the fragile détente will hinge on whether Mr. Trump decides to take additional action on his claims of election meddling.

这一脆弱的缓和局面是否能维系下去将取决于特朗普是否会针对其所谓中国干预美国选举的指控采取进一步行动。

If Mr. Trump were to take fresh actions against China, like putting new tariffs on Chinese goods, said Mr. Wu, “China would certainly retaliate.”

吴心伯表示，如果特朗普对中国采取新举措，比如对中国商品加征新关税，“中国肯定会进行反制”。

The Chinese Economy Needs the U.S.

中国经济需要美国

China may also be tempering its response because it wants to make nice with the United States on trade disputes as its own economy stumbles and as its companies face pushback from foreign governments.

中国之所以保持克制，或许也与其希望在经济承压、以及中国企业在海外面临阻力之际与美国改善贸易关系有关。

Earlier this week, China reported that its economy grew at the slowest pace in three years. It is also facing increased scrutiny in other parts of the world as its exports surge, raising alarm among politicians in Europe and Southeast Asia. Chinese shipments overseas climbed 27 percent over the month of June and its trade surplus with the world climbed to more than $125 billion, its second largest on record.

上周早些时候，中国公布的数据显示其经济增速降至三年来最低水平。与此同时，随着中国出口激增，其不仅在世界其他地区面临更严格的审视，也引发了欧洲和东南亚政界人士的担忧。6月，中国对外出口同比增长27%，对全球贸易顺差攀升至逾1250亿美元，创历史第二高位。

At home, Chinese families are feeling poorer, consuming less, and have fewer job prospects. That means that China needs markets overseas to keep its factories churning, grow its economy and create new jobs, said Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.

在国内，中国家庭普遍感到财富缩水，消费意愿下降，就业前景暗淡。新加坡国立大学政治学副教授庄嘉颖表示，这意味着中国需要开拓海外市场，以维持工厂运转、推动经济增长、创造新的就业岗位。

“Having more access to the U.S. market could also take some of the pressure off China’s economic relationships with a bunch of other countries from Europe to Africa and Asia,” he said.

“获得更多进入美国市场的机会也有助于缓解中国与欧洲、非洲以及亚洲一系列国家之间经济关系所承受的部分压力，”他说。