With Agency Report — Russia and China — two superpowers — have revealed why their official congratulatory messages to US President-elect Joe Biden may not be coming any time soon, following his triumph at the presidential poll over incumbent President Donald Trump over the weekend.
It was reported that when Trump won the 2016 U.S. presidential election over Hillary Clinton, Russian leader Vladimir Putin congratulated him within roughly an hour.
Two days after Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump, four years after, Putin has not uttered words of congratulations.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday the Russian strongman is waiting for official results before congratulating a winner, AFP reported.
“We consider it correct to wait for the official results to be finalized.
“I want to remind you that President Putin repeatedly said he will respect the choice of the American people,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
In contrast, many world leaders congratulated Biden after he took an insurmountable lead over Donald Trump in the vote count.
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.
Russia was accused of interfering in the 2016 election to help get Trump elected, in the hope he would take a softer line with Moscow.
Biden is expected to take a tougher stand and during the campaign slammed Trump for having “embraced so many autocrats around the world, starting with Vladimir Putin.”
Also, in its reaction on Monday, China said it has taken note of Joe Biden’s declaration of victory in the US presidential election but is holding off on sending any message of congratulations.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday the result of the election would be determined under US laws and procedures, and Beijing would follow international practices in extending its sentiments.
China has had a fractious relationship with President Donald Trump, characterised by growing friction over trade, technology and competition for influence in Asia and the world, with the two super powers spatting over issues ranging from blame for the COVID-19 pandemic to Beijing’s alleged human rights record in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Analysts say Biden will likely return ties to a less contentious state, although Beijing has stuck throughout the election to a position of not commenting directly on what it says is an internal American political issue.
“I noticed that Mr Biden has declared victory of the election,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.
“We understand that the presidential election result will be determined following US laws and procedures.”
In 2016, President Xi Jinping sent congratulations to Trump on November 9, a day after the election.
China is one of only a small number of high-profile nations, including Russia and Mexico that have yet to issue statements on the election, in which Democrat Biden emerged the winner over Republican incumbent Trump after days of ballot counting.
Also, Trump is yet to concede defeat and is challenging counting in several districts. “Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be?” Trump said in a tweet on Sunday.
Relations between China and the US are at their worst in decades over disputes ranging from technology and trade to Hong Kong and the coronavirus, and the Trump administration has unleashed a barrage of sanctions against Beijing.
While Biden is expected to maintain a tough stance on China – he has called Xi a “thug” and vowed to lead a campaign to “pressure, isolate and punish China” – he is likely to take a more measured and multilateral approach.
Wang Huiyao, head of the Center for China and Globalization and an adviser to the government in Beijing, said he expects more dialogue under a Biden administration.
“Biden’s election means an opportunity to re-establish relations with the US as he is more likely to uphold multilateralism. That means China and the US can start discussing issues including climate change, pandemic control and trade,” Wang said.
