China declined Monday to congratulate Joe Biden as
the winner of the US presidential election, saying the outcome of the vote was
still to be determined.
While incumbent Donald Trump has yet to concede and
has launched several legal challenges, many world leaders congratulated Biden
and running mate Kamala Harris after the Democrats were declared winners at the
weekend and spontaneous celebrations erupted across American cities.
Trump’s four years in the White House have been
marked by a costly trade war and increasingly icy relations with China, with
the two powers sparring over areas from blame for the Covid-19 pandemic to
Beijing’s human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. China — among a
handful of major countries including Russia and Mexico that has not
congratulated the President-Elect — said Monday it had “noticed that Mr. Biden
declared he is the winner of the election.”
“Our understanding is that the outcome of the
election will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures,” foreign
ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told press at a regular briefing.
After declining to acknowledge Biden’s victory
despite repeated questions from reporters, Wang said: “We hope the new US
government can meet China halfway.” Trump has refused to concede defeat,
complaining in a tweet on Sunday, “Since when does the Lamestream Media call
who our next president will be?”
0 Comments