Trump administration obstructs transition in key security areas, says Biden
Dec 28, 2020
Washington [US], December 29 US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday accused the incumbent Donald Trump's administration of withholding national security information and said his team had faced obstruction of the transition process from key areas including the defence department.
"From some agencies, our teams received exemplary cooperation from the career staff. From others-- most notably the Department of Defense-- we countered obstruction from the political leadership," Biden said during a press briefing.
This comes as Trump's administration has authorised the transition to Biden's administration as the incumbent refuses to concede and disputes the validity of the presidential polls, accusing his democrats of massive fraud.
During his press brief, the president-elect said that his team is not getting "all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas." "It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility," Biden added.
"Rebuilding the full set of our instruments of foreign policy and national security is a key challenge that Vice President-elect Harris and I will face upon taking office -- starting with our diplomacy," he said.
Setting the tone for the US-China ties for the next four years, President-elect also said that Washington needs to build a coalition of like-minded nations to confront Beijing.
"As we compete with China to hold China's government accountable for its trade abuses, technology, human rights and other fronts, our position would be much stronger when we build coalitions of like-minded partners and allies that make common cause with us in defence of our shared interests and our shared values," Biden said following his briefing with national security and foreign policy agency review team members.
Under the Donald Trump administration, ties between the two countries had deteriorated over issues such as human rights violations in Xinjiang, encroachment on the special status of Hong Kong, accusations of unfair trade practices by Beijing, lack of transparency concerning the pandemic and China's military aggression in various parts of the world.
Biden is set to occupy the White House next month.
