HONG KONG >> To the long list of reproachful replies to President Donald Trump’s social media commentary, add an editorial from a Chinese state media outlet, which called his recent tweets on China “messages from some alternative universe.”

The China Daily, an English-language state-run publication, said in the editorial published late Thursday that presidential tweets accusing China of hacking Hillary Clinton’s emails were an effort to “divert public attention from the troubles the White House has become mired in.”

Chinese state media has generally been reticent about personally criticizing Trump over growing frictions between the two countries, including the trade war. But in recent days, China’s English-language state media outlets, which are aimed at overseas audiences, have grown more strident in their mockery of the president and his policies.

Last week, the China Global Television Network, an English-language affiliate of the state broadcaster, released a video that sarcastically thanked Trump for inadvertently encouraging multinational companies to invest in China and forcing the country to develop its own homegrown industries.

The video — titled “Thanks Mr. Trump, you are GREAT!” — was taken down soon after it began drawing interest online. But there appeared to be no apparent second thoughts over the China Daily editorial, which was carried in the newspaper’s Friday print edition.

“To the thinking person, there are few things more disconcerting than a tweet by the US president as they initially seem to accord to reality but then quickly turn into messages from some alternative universe,” the newspaper said.

The editorial was responding to a tweet by Trump on Tuesday, which cited an article from a conservative website.

“Report just out: ‘China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server,’” Trump wrote. “Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!”

Trump offered no further evidence for the supposed Chinese hacking, and the FBI pushed back against the assertion. “FBI has not found any evidence the servers were compromised,” a bureau official told The Associated Press.

Trump also accused China in a series of tweets Wednesday of undermining U.S. diplomacy toward North Korea and the efforts to get it to give up its nuclear weapons. The China Daily editorial responded that Trump was blaming Beijing “for his failure to maneuver progress in relations with Pyongyang.”

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday that China “cannot accept, and will not accept, all the fancy buck-passing by the U.S. side” over the lack of progress with North Korea.

“Many may have the same feeling as me — that the U.S. side is indeed the world No. 1 in using this irresponsible ‘magical logic’ that distorts facts,” said Hua, according to a transcript of the regular news briefing in Beijing. “This really is something beyond the grasp of ordinary folks.”

© 2018 The New York Times Company