China's government has been slower than most countries in recognizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, but early Friday — almost a week after U.S. news organizations called the race for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris — Beijing issued a carefully worded congratulatory message. "We respect the choice of the American people," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing. "We congratulate Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris." He added, "At the same time, the result will be confirmed according to U.S. laws and procedures."
Biden has already been speaking with allied world leaders, and he and Pope Francis talked on the phone Thursday. But Beijing's cautious response was interpreted as either hedging its bets in case President Trump found some way to reverse the results, or perhaps expressing displeasure about the very idea of peaceful transfers of power. But the Chinese government hadn't entirely sat this out. About the time Biden was projected to be the winner, the state-run People's Daily tweeted a sassy response to Trump's claim of victory.
Trump has not conceded.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
How will climate change affect the UK?The Explainer Met Office projections show the UK getting substantially warmer and wetter – with more extreme weather events
-
Crossword: November 23, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
5 red-carpet ready cartoons about Donald Trump's reception of Prince Mohammed bin SalmanCartoon Artists take on the affordability crisis, 'things happen', and more
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
