China has congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden, who won the November 3 election that President Donald Trump has not conceded, nearly a week after the former vice president clinched enough states for the win.
“We respect the choice of the American people. We extend congratulations to Mr Biden and Ms Harris,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily news briefing, also referring to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
“We understand the results of the US election will be determined according to US laws and procedures,” he added, repeating Beijing’s earlier stance.
Trump’s refusal to accept defeat has put Beijing in an awkward position, with China loath to do anything to antagonise Trump, who has mounted court challenges to the balloting and remains in office until the January 20 inauguration.
Biden, who leads by more than 5 million in the popular vote, cemented his victory late on Thursday by winning Arizona, the US networks said.
Trump has repeatedly claimed the election was hindered by fraud, and retweeted a baseless claim on Thursday that an election equipment maker “deleted” 2.7 million votes for him nationwide.
US election officials said there is no evidence of compromised ballots or corrupt voting systems in the November 3 election.
Shortly after Biden’s win following days of ballot counting in several swing states, numerous US allies offered congratulations, while the leaders of China and Russia were among conspicuous holdouts.
In 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent congratulations to Trump on November 9, a day after the election.
Source : Agencies
