BREAKING: China congratulates Biden, Harris

China congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on winning the United States presidential election, ending days of speculation about when Beijing would formally acknowledge the victory, Bloomberg reports.

“We have been following the reaction on this US presidential election from both within the United States and from the international community,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a briefing in Beijing on Friday.

“We respect the American people’s choice and extend congratulations to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris,” Wenbin added.

China’s acknowledgement came after multiple television networks projected Biden would defeat Donald Trump in Arizona, one of the battleground states where the president has looked to overturn the election.

Major world leaders had congratulated Democrats for defeating the Republican candidate but China was one of the few countries that had so far withheld comment, as Trump contested the results.

“We understand that the result of the US presidential election will be determined following the US laws and procedures,” Wenbin noted.

The bilateral relationship between the Trump government and the Xi Jinping administration has worsened over the years with the two countries slamming different trade sanctions on one another.

Details later…