US President Joe Biden referred to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a “dictator” on Tuesday during an event in Kentfield, California to raise funds for his re-election campaign. The statements came a day after his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, met precisely with the Chinese president in Beijing in order to build bridges. Beijing described the US president’s words as “extremely irresponsible” and “a political provocation”.
Biden was talking about the incident with the alleged Chinese spy balloon that Washington ordered to be shot down last February after being detected flying over US soil. According to the president, Xi felt “embarrassed” by the episode since he “did not know that (the balloon) was there.” “That is the great shame of dictators, when they do not know that something has happened,” he added.
The US authorities already suggested in February that the Chinese president was not part of the decision to send the balloon, according to what CNN published at the time, citing sources familiar with the situation. According to Biden, the balloon “was blown off course by the wind” as it flew over Alaska and Xi did not know it until it was shot down by the United States.
Despite the comment, the president assured that Beijing wants to “have a relationship again” with Washington, and congratulated Antony Blinken on his recent trip to China, in which he met, in addition to Xi, other senior government officials. His goal was to stabilize bilateral relations, which China says are at their lowest point since formal ties were established.
Blinken traveled to Beijing over the weekend to try to reopen lines of communication after the balloon incident forced the cancellation of his long-awaited trip to China last February, raising tensions between the powers.
Blinken and Xi agreed in their meeting on Monday to stabilize the intense rivalry between Washington and Beijing so that it does not escalate into a conflict. While no progress was made during the first visit to China by a US secretary of state in five years, both sides agreed to continue the diplomatic engagement with more visits by US officials in the coming weeks and months.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman described Biden’s comments as “extremely absurd” and “irresponsible.” Mao Ning expressed Beijing’s strong dissatisfaction, saying the statements violated diplomatic protocol and China’s political dignity. “They are an open political provocation,” he denounced at a press conference.
Asked how aware Xi had been of the balloon’s movements, Mao reiterated China’s previous explanation that the balloon’s passage through US airspace was unintentional and caused by circumstances outside its control. control.
