On Wednesday, June 21, 2023, China branded remarks made by U.S President Joe Biden calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a dictator as “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning averred that Biden’s comments at a fundraiser in California “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”
“It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” Mao declared at a daily briefing.
“The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible,” Mao iterated.
The new clash of words comes just over a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing.
Blinken’s visit, during which he met with Xi, was aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers but appeared not to have achieved any solid results.
During Blinken’s visit, China reiterated its strong objections to U.S. support for the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.
The U.S. has also sought to block Beijing’s access to cutting-edge computer chip manufacturing technology that could be used for military purposes and accused China of stealing American intellectual property.
Blinken also had talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Wang Yi, a top foreign affairs official. While the visit signified a return to high-level contacts between the sides, China continues to refuse talks between their militaries.
After meeting with Xi on Monday, June 20, 2023, Blinken acknowledged entrenched differences. “We have no illusions about the challenges of managing this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly, even vehemently, disagree,” he said.
Biden Labels Xi A Dictator
Speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in northern California, U.S President Joe Biden compared Chinese President Xi Jinping to a dictator.
Biden stated that Xi was embarrassed over the recent tensions surrounding a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been shot down by the Air Force over the East Coast.
“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 is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said.
“That’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course up through Alaska and then down through the United States. And he didn’t know about it. When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed. He denied it was even there.”
Joe Biden
Although Biden indicated afterwards that he thought relations between the two countries were on the right path, his fundraiser comments risk renewed damage to their highly sensitive relationship.
Blinken’s visit had been originally scheduled for February, but was put on hold after the balloon incident.
Mao reiterated China’s contention that the balloon was intended for meteorological research and had been blown off course accidentally. “The U.S. should have handled it in a calm and professional manner,” she said.
“However, the U.S. distorted facts and used forces to hype up the incident, fully revealing its nature of bullying and hegemony,” she emphasized.
