Chinese President Xi Congratulates Trump, Says Both Countries Can Find Ways to Manage Differences

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory and called for China and US to find right way to man differences by strengning dialogue and communication.

Trump won US presidential election for a second term on Wednesday in one of most remarkable comebacks in American electoral history.

Xi, in his congratulatory mess to Trump, called for two countries to strengn dialogue and communication, properly man differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, official media reports here said.

“I urge China and US to expand mutually beneficial cooperation," Xi said.

“I call for right way for China, and US to get along in new era,” he said, ding that both countries, top two ecomies of world, should strengn dialogue and communication.  As results of US presidential elections poured in on Wednesday pointing to a sweeping victory for Trump, who pursued a tough policy against China in his first term including clamping tariffs on over USD 380 billion Chinese exports to US, Beijing reacted guardedly and said that it respects choice of American people.

“Our policy towards United States has been consistent and we will continue to view and handle China-United States relations in accordance with principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning told a media briefing here.

She dismissed question on Trump's campaign promise to sharply raise tariffs on Chinese imports, higher than his first term.

“We do t respond to hypotical questions," she said.

return of Trump as US President for a second term after a gap of four years has increased Beijing’s anxieties especially when Chinese ecomy faced a serious slowdown resulting in a declining growth rate and business environment with job losses and increased unemployment.

In its “flash editorial” on Trump’s re-election, state-run China Daily said his victory "could mark a new beginning in China-US relations if chance that has been offered is t wasted”.

“ upcoming four years will provide new opportunities for next US ministration to take overall picture of China-US ties into account and strengn dialogue and communication with China to properly handle differences that exist between world's two largest ecomies, which range from Taiwan question to tre, and to South China Sea," it said.

In his first term, Trump launched a tre war against China by imposing tariffs on over USD 380 billion on Chinese imports in 2018-19, saying that China is “ripping off” America. His successor Joe Biden has continued tariffs, denting China's profits.

During his campaign, Trump threatened to impose over 60 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports which last year accounted for USD 427.2 billion.

China-US relations became tense over a host of policies pursued by Trump including blocking Chinese tech.

He also blamed China for Covid-19 pandemic, saying that virus emanated from a bio-lab in Wuhan.

military relations between two countries also remained tense under Trump’s previous presidency. 

(Except heline, this story is t edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed)