Congratulations have been pouring in to President-elect Joe Biden from across the world, but a few leaders have been conspicuous in their silence.
So far there has been no official comment from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who enjoys a “special relationship” with Trump as we all know. Biden is expected to take a much tougher stance against Russia, which he has called the biggest threat to U.S. national security. And Biden is certainly not pleased by the vicious Russian disinformation campaign smearing his son Hunter.
Oddly enough the main story on the official Russian news agency ITAR-TASS English-language service on Sunday about the U.S. election is based on an interview with an Italian expert who says Biden might have been a strong candidate but will likely be a weak president. The researcher also concludes “Trumpism” is here to stay.
Russia’s business daily Kommersant did see a winner in the U.S. election and it wasn’t Biden.
“The only guaranteed election outcome is that the deep divide in American society, which gripped the country four years ago, will keep widening,” Kommersant wrote before Biden was declared the winner.
Russia played its role in contributing to that outcome thanks to Russian intelligence operatives at the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency responsible for the massive social media campaign aimed at sowingdivision and discord in American society.
So far the only prominent Russian political figure to congratulate Biden is opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who is recovering in Germany after nearly dying from a military-grade nerve agent. Navalny’s offices in Moscow were raided a few days ago by authorities.
While other Arab leaders were quick to congratulate Biden on his victory, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman waited nearly a day to react
The official Saudi news agency SPA said the Crown Prince sent a cable to President-elect Biden in which he “expressed his congratulations and wishes of good health and happiness to Mr. Biden and to the friendly people of the United States of America steady progress and prosperity.”
SPA reported that King Salman expressed his “sincere congratulations” to Biden and “praised the historical deep-rooted relations between the two friendly countries, adding that both countries are keen to develop and enhance these relations in all fields.”
Unlike other world leaders, the king and crown prince sent separate messages of congratulations to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Trump had a particularly close relationship with MBS. Trump helped shield the crown prince from accusations of human rights violations, including failing to hold the kingdom responsible for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
And Trump has not spoken out about Saudi Arabia’s role in atrocities committed in the Yemen war. The Saudis also support Trump’s hard-line against Iran, including withdrawing from the nuclear deal.
The Saudis are nervous because Biden has pledged to reassess relations with the kingdom.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also remains among the silent. But Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Otkay expected there would be little change in relations even though Erdogan and Trump were quite friendly, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported.
"Nothing will change for Turkey," Oktay said in an interview with broadcaster Kanal 7. "The channels of communication will work as before, but of course there will be a transition period."
But Biden has called Erdogan an “autocrat” and criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw support for Kurdish fighters in northern Syria who had provided crucial support in defeating ISIS.
NBC News reported that Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been called “the Trump of the Tropics,” has also remained silent about Biden’s victory. Bolsonaro undoubtedly is unnerved that Biden has threatened sanctions if Brazil continues to allow the destruction of the Amazon rain forest.
China’s leader Xi Jinping also remained silent on Biden’s victory. But Chinese media reacted to Biden’s winwith “cautious optimism,” the New York Times reported.
Trump sought to shift the blame to China for the coronavirus pandemic with references to the “Chyna virus” or the “kung flu.” There remain tensions over trade as well.
The nationalistic tabloid, Global Times, citing Chinese experts, wrote: “The outcome could usher in a ‘buffering period’ for already-tense China-U.S. relations, and offer an opportunity for breakthroughs in resuming high-level communication and rebuilding mutual strategic trust.”
The newspaper, in an obvious understatement, said Biden would be “more moderate and mature” than Trump on foreign policy, suggesting cooperation on combating climate change and dealing with the coronavirus.
But the Times article also noted that Chinese media was spotlighting how the election indicated the division within U.S. society as Trump continued to refuse to concede.
Global Times editor Hu Xijin wrote on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, that “American society is now highly divided, which creates the soil for further political derailment.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has also not reacted to Biden’s victory. The North Korean news agency KCNA has not even put out a story about the U.S. presidential election.
But it doesn’t look like Kim will be writing any love letters to Biden as he did to Trump. During the campaign, Biden called Kim a “tyrant,” criticizing Trump for befriending Kim.
KCNA responded with a commentary in May 2019 which insulted Biden by calling him a “fool of low IQ” and an “imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being,” which Trump reportedly found amusing.