China says it will keep working with US after GOP loses Congress

China is signaling it wants to keep the US-China relationship on an even keel after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press briefing Wednesday that the midterms are an internal American matter, and that Beijing is willing to keep working with Washington to carry out the consensus reached by the two heads of state.

Mao laid out the wish list plainly: strengthen communication, manage differences properly, expand cooperation, and build what she called a constructive and strategically stable relationship based on respect, fairness and reciprocity. In other words, no gloating from Beijing — at least not out loud — and no sign the diplomatic channel is closing.

The political backdrop is a drubbing for Trump's party. Republicans lost the House and Senate, and the incoming Democratic House majority is already being framed by the GOP as far-left and extreme. Speaker Mike Johnson vowed on X that Republicans will take back the House in the next cycle and finish the job, saying a new battle is just beginning even though the result wasn't what his party hoped for.

Down-ballot races went both ways. Republican Senator Pete Ricketts held his Nebraska seat against independent Dan Osborn, boosted by late spending from the Senate GOP's leading super PAC. In Arizona, Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs won reelection, beating Republican Representative Andy Biggs.

The recriminations have started inside the GOP. Michigan Republican operative Todd Gillman told Politico the party needs to move as far from Trump as it can, saying the president's style is wearing voters out and warning Republicans could be in trouble for years. Elon Musk, who backed Republican candidates, responded to the Democratic wave with sarcastic posts on X, joking about data centers in space and election-interfering space lasers, according to the New York Times, which reported he put roughly $500 million behind GOP efforts.

What happens next hinges on how much of Mao's cooperative language survives contact with a divided Washington. A Democratic House majority can block, probe and subpoena — and Trump still holds the pen on tariffs and foreign policy. For now, Beijing's message is that the door stays open.