Joe Biden calls Xi a dictator a day after Beijing talks

As the US looks to stabilise its relations with China, the US president strangely decided to refer to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator. 

The president’s remarks at a fundraising event in California came just days after a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Xi in Beijing. The meeting between Blinken and Xi was intended to alleviate tensions between the US and China. 

President Joe Biden additionally mentioned that President Xi seemed embarrassed by the reported incident involving a Chinese spy balloon being shot down by the US. 

China has said it “firmly opposes” Biden’s comments. 

“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,” Biden said on Tuesday. “That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened,” he added.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called Biden’s remarks “extremely absurd and irresponsible”. Speaking at a regularly scheduled press conference, she said that it is “an open political provocation” that violates diplomatic etiquette.