Chinese government dodges when to congratulate US President-elect Biden

More than 24 hours after US media declared Biden victory, China remains one of the few major countries to yet send a congratulatory message to Biden and his team on their defeat of Donald Trump, leaving much to speculate that officials were waiting for the outgoing. president to concede defeat.

Wang did not elaborate on what the “international practice” might entail, especially given the large number of nations who have already praised Biden, including the UK, Australia, Israel, France and Germany.

Beijing’s apparent reluctance to offer a firm response on the election outcome comes as Chinese state media have shown cautious optimism that a Biden presidency could help reset the US-China relationship, which has deteriorated significantly. during Trump’s tenure.

“By embracing this approach and strengthening the ballast of their trade relationship, the two countries can regain the generally positive momentum that has characterized their relationship over the past four decades,” the editorial said.

The government-backed Chinese nationalist tabloid Global Times ran an op-ed titled “Drop Illusions about Sino-U.S. Relations, But Don’t Give Up,” in which it urged Beijing to “contact ‘Biden team as fully as possible, make greater joint efforts to restore Sino-US relations to a state of high predictability. “

However, he concluded by noting that at the end of the day, China can only rely on itself. “China must become a country that the United States cannot suppress or destabilize, and make cooperation with China the best option for the United States to realize its national interests,” the editorial said. .

American tensions in China

In the final weeks of the campaign, on the runway and in the debates, President Trump has focused on taking China as an important part of his platform, hitting Beijing as responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, or the “Chinese virus”. as he frequently called it.

Meanwhile, its Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, traveled across Asia to consolidate an anti-Beijing alliance, visiting Japan, India and several other countries on the outskirts of China.

“America is rising to the challenge of China,” Pompeo said last month, adding that the ruling Chinese Communist Party is “the greatest threat to freedom and democracy today.”

Analysts expect Biden to curb this kind of rhetoric and take a more pragmatic approach from Beijing, though he may be just as wary of Chinese influence and growing strength as his former rival. republican.

Speaking ahead of the election results, 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 interagency community and traditional American allies, introducing more deliberate decision-making over the United States. China issues “contrary to Trump’s often capricious policies towards Beijing.

“This approach will result in a more formal and predictable model of bilateral engagement that will help restore the tone of relations by stabilizing the overall relationship between the United States and China and avoid the possibility of misunderstandings that could aggravate the conflict,” Moon told CNN.

But he added that deeper issues would likely remain unresolved. “After decades of dialogue and cooperation between the United States and China on all bilateral issues, China has consistently refused to adopt policy changes and reforms that address American concerns,” Moon said. “China’s reset formula is therefore unacceptable to the United States.”

Speaking last month, Cui Tiankai, Chinese Ambassador to the United States, said Beijing has been “strongly opposed from the start to a new ‘cold war’ or decoupling, and we are committed to a healthy and stable growth of Sino-US relations. ”

“Sino-US relations are experiencing serious difficulties rarely seen in the past 41 years of diplomatic relations,” Cui said. “It has seriously undermined the fundamental interests of the Chinese and American peoples.”

But the breakdown in relations was not solely motivated by Washington, despite everything Trump may have accelerated it.

In part, the frayed ties are the result of Beijing’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy and military expansionism, as well as the growing dismay of the international community at the continuing human rights violations in Xinjiang, the United States of America. Tibet and Hong Kong.

And while Beijing may hope it was simply due to pressure from the US presidential election campaign, Biden bragged about his ability to take on China unlike Trump, denouncing the outgoing president for initially kissing the Chinese strongman. Xi Jinping, and praising his coronavirus. reply.

But Beijing may not feel pressured to compromise with the United States under a Biden administration, especially since the risk of sweeping or unpredictable action is considerably lower than under Trump, who last month threatened. to make China pay a high price for what it has done. in the world.”