US-China tensions: Xi Jinping waits to congratulate Joe Biden on election win
- As messages pour in from other world leaders, Chinese foreign ministry says it has ‘taken note of Biden declaring victory’
- Beijing feels it’s ‘not the appropriate time’ to offer congratulations, partly because of strained ties, analyst says
European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are among those who have congratulated Biden since the election was called in his favour on Saturday.
Their messages have come despite vows from Trump to wage a legal battle against the election results, alleging voter fraud, and as his supporters continue to hold rallies across the country in support of the president.
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China waits to congratulate Joe Biden on US election win
“We understand that the election results will be confirmed according to related US laws and procedures,” Wang said, adding that Beijing hoped Washington would manage differences between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect and dialogue.
Observers in China said Beijing would tread carefully on the issue.
“Chinese leaders feel it is not the appropriate time to extend congratulations, not only because of the deep civilian divide over the election results, but also because US-China relations are in such a bad state overall,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing and adviser to the State Council, China’s cabinet.
While officials have been quiet, state-run tabloid Global Times said it was a “foregone conclusion” that Biden would be the next US president, in an editorial published on Sunday. It also said the US was unlikely to ease pressure on China when Biden took power.
The tabloid’s editor-in-chief Hu Xijin tweeted on Monday that Beijing had not followed Western countries in congratulating Biden just yet to “avoid getting entangled in [US] controversies”.
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Shi echoed those views. “Biden’s hostile attacks against China during the campaign show there is no sign that he will take a very different line [from Trump] towards US-China relations,” he said.
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Biden called President Xi a “thug” on the campaign trail and has blasted Beijing over its policies in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
“There’s no need for China to rush to congratulate Biden at this point,” Shi said.
“It’s less sensitive for close friends of Washington to make a statement, but the situation is different for China or Russia,” said Yu Wanli, a Beijing-based foreign policy analyst.
“With Trump still contesting the vote, there’s a chance that a statement from these countries could even be seen as electoral interference,” he said. “The simplest answer, however, is that the election is simply not over, even if [US] media outlets have made their calls.”
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Zhang Baohui, a political-science professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, said Beijing was “very sensitive to how the China issue has affected the US presidential election”.
“So it does not want to add fuel to the fire,” Zhang said. “By keeping a low profile on the election matter, Beijing thinks it can minimise the salience of the China issue in US politics at this difficult moment.”
Additional reporting by Catherine Wong