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BEIJING: China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday (November 13) that it extended its congratulations to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who won the November 3 election that President Donald Trump refused to concede.
“We respect the choice of the American people. We extend our congratulations to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular daily briefing.
“We understand that the results of the US elections will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures,” he added.
READ: ‘Welcome back America!’ World leaders congratulate Biden and Harris on victory
The cover of the Global Times newspaper features a photo of US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris on a newsstand in Beijing. (Photo: Reuters)
China was previously among a handful of major countries, including Russia and Mexico, that had not congratulated the president-elect, and Beijing commented earlier this week that it had “noticed that Biden declared that he was the winner.”
In 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent congratulations to Trump on November 9, the day after the election.
Since the US media called for the presidential race, Trump has not awarded Biden as is traditional practice once a winner is projected.
Trump’s refusal to accept defeat has put Beijing in an awkward position, as China is reluctant to do anything to cross Trump, who has raised legal challenges to the ballots and remains in office until the January 20 inauguration. .
Trump’s four years in the White House have been marked by a costly trade war between the two powers, with Beijing and Washington also arguing over blame for the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Under his slogan “America First,” Trump has presented China as the greatest threat to America and world democracy.
