US embassy takes softer tone on China as presidential election finish line nears

Name: China’s foreign ministry voices hope that US elections ‘proceed smoothly’
Uploaded: 2020-11-07T06:00:33.000Z
Duration: 1 min 43 s
Description: China’s foreign ministry voices hope that US elections ‘proceed smoothly’

Washington will seek fair and reciprocal relationship with Beijing, acting top American diplomat in Chinese capital says

Message comes after a year of critical embassy statements aimed at China

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The US will push for a fair and reciprocal relationship with China, the American embassy in Beijing says. Photo: AP

Jun Mai

Published: 2:00pm, 7 Nov 2020Updated: 11:19pm, 7 Nov 2020

Washington will seek a “results-oriented relationship” with Beijing after the US presidential election, its acting top diplomat in Beijing said.

“Talking to each other is the best way to understand each other,” the US embassy said in a post on its WeChat account on Friday.

“Whatever the outcome of the US election, the United States would continue to push for a fair and reciprocal relationship with China and that there is widespread and consistent bipartisan support for current US policies towards China.”

The statement quoted comments Robert Forden, the embassy’s charge d’affaires, made on Thursday in discussions on bilateral relations and the 2020 elections at the Charhar Institute, a Beijing-based Chinese think tank.

“Looking ahead, the US policies will continue to seek a results-oriented relationship that actually addresses long-standing issues in the relationship,” Forden said at the event which was also attended by Li Qiangmin, China’s consul general in Houston between 2014 to 2019.

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China’s foreign ministry voices hope that US elections ‘proceed smoothly’

The conciliatory tone from the embassy is a departure from the past year, when its posts have been very critical of Beijing’s policies and sometimes the nature of the Chinese government itself.