Hindustan Times (East UP)

US polls: China congratula­tes Biden, Harris

- Yashwant Raj yashwant.raj@hindustant­imes.com

China on Friday shed its hesitation and congratula­ted US President-elect Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris for their victory in the 2020 US presidenti­al election.

“We have been following reactions on the US elections from both within the US and the internatio­nal community,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters when pointed out that more world leaders as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have congratula­ted Biden.

“We respect the American people’s choice and we extend congratula­tions to Biden and Harris and we understand that the result of the US presidenti­al elections will be determined following the US laws and procedures.”

Late on Thursday, Biden narrowly won Arizona, capturing the state’s 11 electoral votes and consolidat­ing his lead over his Republican rival and incumbent US President Donald Trump.

For just the second time in more than seven decades, a Democrat will carry Arizona in a presidenti­al election, a monumental shift for a state that was once a Republican stronghold, CNN reported.

But the official transition to his administra­tion remains stalled as Trump refuses to accept defeat. Top US poll and security officials on Thursday said the November 3 election was “the most secure in American history,” refuting Trump’s allegation­s of fraud and irregu

We respect the American people’s choice WANG WENBIN, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman

larities that he has failed to prove.

The Democrat was getting growing recognitio­n from Republican­s who are demanding equal access for him to classified briefings as the president, which has been blocked by Trump along with other practices routinely associated with transition from one administra­tion to another.

“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history,” said a joint statement by a top official of the Cybersecur­ity and Infrastruc­ture Security Agency (CISA), along with other officials. “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromise­d.”

 ?? AFP/FILE ?? Joe Biden
AFP/FILE Joe Biden

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