China offers cooperation with ‘new US administration’ after Afghanistan conference

Name: China congratulates Joe Biden on being elected US president
Uploaded: 2020-11-25T21:00:24.000Z
Duration: 41 s
Description: China congratulates Joe Biden on being elected US president

Recognition of US President-elect Joe Biden comes just before a formal congratulations by Xi Jinping

The statement by the Chinese embassy in Afghanistan says it seeks ‘to build a Sino-US relationship that is balanced, cooperative and stable’

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-US Vice-President Joe Biden during an arrival ceremony in Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on September 24, 2015. China’s embassy in Afghanistan recognised the “new US administration” just ahead of Xi’s formal congratulation to Biden on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Liu Zhen

Published: 5:00am, 26 Nov 2020Updated: 10:31am, 26 Nov 2020

China offered to cooperate with the United States’ incoming Biden administration regarding Afghanistan on Wednesday, extending an olive branch to the president-elect that came just ahead of formal congratulations by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We are willing to work together with the new US administration, on the basis of non-confrontation, mutual respect, and the spirit of win-win cooperation to build a Sino-US relationship that is balanced, cooperative and stable,” the Chinese embassy in Afghanistan said in a statement.

China sought “to jointly promote the peaceful and stable development of Afghanistan and contribute to the Afghanistan people’s aspiration of a beautiful life”, the statement added.

It was issued by the embassy in response to a recorded message by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the 2020 Afghanistan Conference, which was held online on Tuesday, in which Pompeo blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic. The embassy assailed Pompeo for spreading “malicious lies”.

The statement came just ahead of Xi’s congratulatory message to President-elect Joe Biden, also on Wednesday, in which Xi said he hoped that China and the US might “join hands with other countries and the international community to promote the noble cause of world peace and development”.

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China congratulates Joe Biden on being elected US president

China’s foreign ministry had congratulated Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris on November 13, 10 days after Election Day, but stopped short of calling Biden the president-elect. Xi’s statement on Wednesday came after the US General Services Administration on Tuesday notified the Biden campaign it could begin the formal transition process to take power on January 20.