China, Russia and Mexico are among the handful of countries that has not congratulated the US President-Elect, Joe Biden China declined to congratu
China, Russia and Mexico are among the handful of countries that has not congratulated the US President-Elect, Joe Biden
China declined to congratulate Joe Biden as the winner of the US presidential election, saying the outcome of the vote was still to be determined.
“Our understanding is that the outcome of the election will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told press at a regular briefing.
After declining to acknowledge Biden’s victory despite repeated questions from reporters, Wang said: “We hope the new US government can meet China halfway.”
Trump’s four years in the White House have been marked by a costly trade war and increasingly icy relations with China, with the two powers sparring over areas from blame for the Covid-19 pandemic to Beijing’s human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is waiting for official results from the US presidential election before congratulating a winner, the Kremlin said.
“We consider it correct to wait for the official results to be finalised. I want to remind you that President Putin repeatedly said he will respect the choice of the American people,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
When Trump won the 2016 presidential election over Hillary Clinton, Putin congratulated him within roughly an hour.
Peskov said that this election was different because of the legal challenges that Trump, who has refused to concede defeat, is planning to mount over the vote.
“The difference is quite obvious… then there were no announcements of legal challenges,” Peskov said.
He added that Moscow was ready to work with whoever is declared the winner of the US vote.
“We hope that with the next president of the United States it will be possible to re-establish a dialogue and together agree on ways to normalise our bilateral relations,” he said.
Similarly, the Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he would not congratulate a winner of the U.S. presidential election until legal challenges are concluded, in an apparent bid to avoid friction with Washington during the transition.
The Mexican president linked his caution to his own allegations of fraud in two presidential elections he contested, in 2006 and 2012, before winning on his third bid in 2018.
Trump has refused to concede defeat, complaining in a tweet on Sunday, “Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be?”
AFP
