Xi sends congratulatory message to Trump

    U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said yesterday in his victory speech it was time for America to bind the wounds of division and come together as one united people.

    “We will seek common ground not hostility, partnership not conflict,” Trump said at a rally of overjoyed supporters in the New York Hilton Midtown hotel.

    In a somewhat gracious speech, Trump first commended the campaign effort of his opponent, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country,” he said.

    Trump then called for Americans to come together as a united people, and promised to reach out to voters that had not supported him.

    In his speech, Trump repeated some of his campaign rhetoric and proposals, saying that his administration will fix the country’s inner cities, rebuild infrastructure, and “double our growth.” Trump also promised to have “great relationships” with the rest of the world.

    President Xi Jinping congratulated Donald Trump on becoming president-elect of the United States, and said he hoped they could work together to boost China-U.S. relations so as to better benefit peoples around the world.

    “I highly value the relations between China and the United States, and I am looking forward to working together with you to expand China-U.S. cooperation in every field, at the bilateral, regional and global levels, on the basis of the principles of nonconflict, nonconfrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” Xi said.

    Trump’s speech came after he successfully surpassed the threshold of 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency in Tuesday’s general election. Clinton made a formal telephone call to Trump to concede defeat, but wouldn’t speak to the public until the next morning, according to media reports.

    Trump’s victory wrapped up an unprecedentedly repugnant race for the top job in a country. With all guns blazing on personality insults instead of policy debates, the two candidates waged a highly negative tug of war that has divided U.S. society.

    Taking over the Oval Office, Trump will find himself surrounded by a raft of challenges ranging from weak economic growth and widening wealth inequality to escalating racial tensions and mounting anti-terror pressures.

    Also on Tuesday, U.S. voters elected 34 senators and all 435 members of the House of Representatives. Major news networks projected that the Republican Party would keep control of both houses of Congress.  (Xinhua)

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