Xi called Biden on Thursday, making him one of the last world leaders to congratulate the Democratic nominee on his victory. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin were the two highest profile holdouts, and the latter still has not offered his congratulations.
Chinese state media said Xi told Biden he hoped the world’s two largest economies would “uphold the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, focus on cooperation, manage differences, advance the healthy and stable development of China-US ties, and join hands with other countries and the international community to promote the noble cause of world peace and development.”
The state-run China Daily published an editorial Thursday defending Xi’s decision to delay the call. The president seems to have decided to congratulate Biden after the General Services Administration declared him the winner and President Donald Trump had ordered his aides to cooperate with the transition.
“That President Xi Jinping waited for the appropriate signal before sending a message to Joe Biden congratulating him on his election victory was simply showing due decorum,” the newspaper wrote.
“That many other leaders jumped the gun shows how desperate some countries are for a change of approach by the United States, the current U.S. administration’s brash self-centeredness having become increasingly taxing and trying,” it added.
China Daily said Trump’s term had been especially difficult for Beijing, which had become “the primary target of the administration’s ‘America first’ offensive.”
China and its media organisations have expressed hope that Biden will bring an end to America’s recent combative China strategy, though analysts have warned that strategic competition between Washington, D.C. and Beijing is the new normal.
Biden has vowed to put democracy and human rights at the centre of his foreign policy, which could mean fractious ties with the Chinese Communist Party. He has also said that while he does not see the China challenge as “primarily a military one,” his administration will “deter and respond to aggression.”
There is now bipartisan recognition in Washington that the China challenge needs to be addressed. Though many disagreed with Trump’s methods, it would be hard to find lawmakers who do not agree that Beijing needs to be confronted.
Chinese media is, for now, expressing hope for dialogue and cooperation—a far cry from the vitriol with which it has covered the Trump term.
“Recalibrating the country’s China policy is a task that should not be delayed,” China Daily argued. “The current administration’s policies aimed at containing China have taken a heavy toll on bilateral relations and global stability.”
Neither the U.S. nor China has the capacity or the motive to continue the confrontation initiated by the hawkish ideologues of the incumbent U.S. administration," the editorial continued. “It is time to hit the reset button.”
