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US President Joe Biden recently made headlines with his remarks about Chinese President Xi Jinping during a fundraising event in California.
Biden referred to Xi as a dictator, just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s talks with Xi in Beijing, which aimed to ease tensions between the two global powers.
Biden also mentioned an incident involving an alleged Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the US. He claimed that Xi was embarrassed by the incident because he was unaware of the balloon’s presence. The Chinese government quickly responded, stating that it “firmly opposes” Biden’s comments.
During the fundraising event, Biden said, “The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset, in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it, was he didn’t know it was there. That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened.”
The balloon, which China maintained was used for weather monitoring, crossed the continental US before being destroyed by American military aircraft in February. The US later revealed that it was part of a broader Chinese intelligence collection program.
In the aftermath of the incident, Blinken postponed his visit to Beijing, further straining US-China relations.
Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, denounced Biden’s remarks as “extremely absurd and irresponsible.” During a regular press conference, she stated that the comments constituted “an open political provocation” that violated diplomatic etiquette.
Blinken’s visit to Beijing marked the first by a US secretary of state in nearly five years and was seen as a sign of a renewed effort to engage in high-level communication between the two nations.
Both sides acknowledged some progress during the talks, and expressed openness to further discussions. However, significant differences still exist on various issues, such as the aftermath of the Trump-era trade war, Beijing’s assertive claims regarding Taiwan, and the shooting down of the alleged spy balloon.