China still won’t back Biden, but throws support behind Guinea leader facing vote fraud allegations
Joe Biden has received messages of congratulations from more than one hundred world leaders sine being named president-elect
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China is one of a few countries yet to congratulate US president-elect Joe Biden, but has expressed its willingness to work with Guinea’s Alpha Conde on his re-election as president – even as he is facing allegations of fraud at home.
“China and Guinea are good friends… We value our tradition of friendship and stand ready to work with the Guinean side to further advance our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to achieve benefits to our two peoples,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing on Monday.
China’s business interests in the African nation are no secret. In 2017, it offered Guinea a $20bn loan in exchange for a deal to supply bauxite, the rock used primarily to produce aluminium and of which Guinea has the world’s largest reserves.
Guinea’s presidential elections took place last month but were marred by opposition allegations of voter fraud. The country’s supreme court has dismissed those objections and confirmed Mr Conde’s third tenure as president.
China’s stance on Guinea came in stark contrast to its reaction to the US vote. Asked on Monday about Mr Biden being projected as the winner, the foreign ministry spokesperson said only that China has noted Mr Biden’s victory declaration.
"We understand that the outcome of the general election will be determined in accordance with the laws and procedures of the United States. We will handle the issue of the statement (of congratulations) in accordance with international practice," said Mr Wenbin in response to a query from CNN.
Apart from China, Russia is the other major nation that is still to congratulate Joe Biden. Moscow has likewise said it will wait on the legal procedure that Mr Trump has threatened, which could take weeks to resolve.
More than one hundred countries have congratulated Mr Biden, however, including the likes of the UK, Australia, India, Israel, France and Germany.
During Mr Trump’s tenure as president, China-US relations have deteriorated rapidly, and in the week before the 3 November election US secretary of state Mike Pompeo repeatedly lashed out at Beijing during a tour of Asian nations.
