China congratulates Joe Biden on his victory in the US election. (FILE)
Beijing:
China congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden on Friday nearly a week after being declared the winner in the US election.
US-China relations have grown increasingly strained in recent years under the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump, and relations are as frigid as at any time since formal ties were established four decades ago.
“We respect the choice of the American people. We extend our congratulations to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said during a regular press briefing, referring to the new vice -President Kamala Harris.
Wang said China understands that “the outcome of the US election will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures.”
China was previously one of a handful of large countries, including Russia and Mexico, which had failed to congratulate the president-elect, with Beijing simply saying earlier this week that it had “noticed that Mr Biden said that he was the winner “.
Since the US media called the presidential race, Trump has not conceded to Biden as is traditional practice once a winner is cast.
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 responsibility for the Covid-19 pandemic and China’s human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Under his “America First” banner, Trump described China as the greatest threat to the United States and to global democracy.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
