Chinese government sidesteps question on when it will congratulate US President-elect Biden
CNNHong Kong CNN — The Chinese government on Monday sidestepped questions on when it would congratulate United States President-elect Joe Biden on his election victory, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman saying only that China would act in “accordance with international practice.” More than 24 hours after US media declared Biden victorious, China remains one of the few major countries yet to send a message of congratulations to Biden and his team on their defeat of Donald Trump, leaving many to speculate whether officials there are waiting for the outgoing president to formally concede. Speaking at a regular press briefing in Beijing Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China had “noted” Biden’s declaration of victory. Speaking before the election result, Jeff Moon, an analyst and former US diplomat in China said he expected Biden to resume the “traditional practice of relying heavily on the US inter-agency community and America’s traditional allies, introducing more deliberate decision-making on US-China issues” in contrast to Trump’s often capricious policies toward Beijing. “China’s formula for reset is thus unacceptable to the United States.” Speaking last month, Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the US, said Beijing has been “firmly opposed, all along, to a new ‘Cold War’ or decoupling, and we are committed to the sound and stable growth of China-US relations.” “The China-US relationship is experiencing severe difficulties rarely seen in the past 41 years of diplomatic ties,” Cui said.