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BEIJING: China on Monday refused to congratulate Joe Biden as the winner of the US presidential election, saying the result of the vote has yet to be determined.
While incumbent Donald Trump has yet to relent and has launched several legal challenges, many world leaders congratulated Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris after Democrats were declared winners over the weekend and spontaneous celebrations erupted in American cities. .
Trump’s four years in the White House have been marked by a costly trade war and increasingly cold relations with China, with the two powers arguing 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, which has not congratulated the president-elect, said on Monday that it had “noticed that Mr. Biden declared that he is the winner of the election.”
“We understand that the outcome of the elections will be determined in accordance with the laws and procedures of the United States,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a regular briefing.
After refusing to acknowledge Biden’s victory despite repeated questions from reporters, Wang said, “We hope that the new US government can meet China halfway.”
Trump has refused to admit defeat, complaining in a tweet Sunday: “Since when does Lamestream Media say who our next president will be?”
