China Hasn't Congratulated Biden, Afraid Of Being Rocked The Rest Of The Trump Administration?

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President-Elect Joe Biden (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - China is one of the countries that has not congratulated the President-Elect of the United States (US) Joe Biden. The government chose to reject the discussion of this statement at a press conference. What is wrong?

It has been more than 24 hours that the US media have been busy reporting on Biden's victory in the 2020 US Presidential Election, but China is still unfazed. Speculation arose over the attitude of the communist state. Some say China avoids anything that could exacerbate the shock of recent Sino-US relations.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in his press conference that China had "recorded" Biden's declaration of victory. But they still admit to respecting official US ruling procedures.

"We understand that the election results will be determined in accordance with US law and procedure," said Wang. "We will deal with the issue of declaring (congratulations) in accordance with international practice."

According to CNN's statement Tuesday, November 10, Wang did not elaborate on what might happen in "international practice" given that a large number of countries have congratulated Biden, including Britain, Australia, Israel, France and Germany.

China's reluctance to announce congratulations to Biden arose as Chinese state-run media displayed cautious optimism. They think the Biden administration can help restore the deteriorating US-China relations during Trump's term.

In an article published on Sunday November 8, the state-run newspaper China Daily said that relations could be "reset for the better," particularly on trade. The two countries have waged a two-year, economically destructive trade war with no end in sight.

"By following this approach and strengthening the weight of trade relations, the two countries can regain the generally positive momentum that has characterized their relationship over the past four decades," it wrote.

China's state-backed nationalist magazine, Global Times, published an article entitled "Drop the Illusion of Sino-US Relations, But Don't Give Up." The paper recommends that China communicate with Biden's team as completely as possible for greater joint efforts to restore Sino-US relations.

However, the paper concludes that in the end, China can only rely on itself. "China must become a country that cannot be suppressed or deterred by the US and make cooperation with China the best option for the US to realize its national interests."

Sino-US tensions

In the final weeks of the campaign, President Trump still put pressure on China and made it an important thing to do. He often blames China as the main cause of the COVID-19 pandemic or the "Chinese virus" as he often calls it.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has toured Asia to shore up anti-China alliances. Pompeo has visited Japan, India and several other countries on the outskirts of China.

"America is facing China's challenge," said Pompeo. He also called the ruling Chinese Communist Party the "greatest threat to freedom and democracy today."

Analysts expect Joe Biden to be able to rein in this type of rhetoric and take a more pragmatic approach to China. Even then, Joe Biden may be as suspicious of Chinese influence as Trump. Jeff Moon, an analyst and former US diplomat in China said he expected Biden to continue "the traditional practice of relying heavily on the US interagency community and America's traditional allies."

"That approach will result in a more formal and predictable pattern of bilateral engagement. This will help reset the tone of relations by stabilizing the overall US-China relationship and avoiding possible misunderstandings that could escalate conflict," Moon said.

But he added that deeper problems will likely remain unsolved. "After decades of US-China dialogue and cooperation on a variety of bilateral issues, China has consistently refused to adopt policy changes and reforms addressing American issues," said Moon. "China's resetting formula is thus unacceptable to the US."