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China congratulated Joe Biden on being elected the next president of the United States, a week after the Democratic candidate declared that he had obtained enough votes from the Electoral College to enter the White House.
“We respect the choice of the American people and extend our congratulations to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday, referring to US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
But Wang said that China understood that the election results would be confirmed by following the procedures according to US law.
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Shortly after Biden declared on Saturday that he had won the election, European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were among those who congratulated him.
But China did not send a message, prompting speculation that Beijing was waiting until the result was officially confirmed so as not to appear to favor either side or risk becoming embroiled in US domestic politics amid strained ties with Washington.
Lu Xiang, a US specialist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Beijing may have decided to congratulate Biden after US media called the state of Arizona for him.
“China … congratulated the party with a recognized advantage, but also recognized that the other party has not yet made a concession,” Lu said. “The timing could be because the US media simply called Arizona for Biden.”
Additional reporting by Wendy Wu
More to follow …
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