US President Joe Biden called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator.” This happened after their meeting in San Francisco. The statement has already been criticized by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The details are reported by the American television channel CNN and Bloomberg.
What Joe Biden said about Xi Jinping
At a media press conference after the talks, Biden was asked whether he would continue to view Xi as a “dictator,” as he has in the past.
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The US President responded by saying: Well, look, he is.
“I mean, he is a dictator in the sense that he is a person running a communist country based on a form of government that is completely different from ours,” Biden said.
At the same time, he called the talks with Xi “one of the most constructive and productive discussions we have had.”
At a news conference, Biden praised Xi for his frankness during the talks, but did not confirm that he trusts the Chinese leader.
“Trust but verify, as the old saying goes, that’s where I am,” the US leader said.
Bloomberg suggested that Biden's remarks about a “dictator” could undermine agreements reached during negotiations between the leaders.
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According to Chinese media, during the meeting the leaders “stressed the need for mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, maintaining communication and preventing conflicts.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry's reaction to Biden's statement
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Joe Biden's words about a “dictator.”
The department called this comment by the US President “extremely erroneous.”
“This statement is extremely incorrect and irresponsible political manipulation, and China strongly opposes it,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a comment to the media.
According to her, “there will always be people with ulterior motives” who will try to harm relations between the United States and China, but “they will not succeed.” The speaker did not specify who she meant.
Not Biden's first statement about a “dictator”
This is not the first time Joe Biden has called Xi Jinping a “dictator.” A similar statement was made in June, when the US President spoke about Beijing’s reaction to the downed Chinese reconnaissance balloon.
“The reason why Xi Jinping was very angry when I shot down that balloon with spy equipment is because he didn’t know it was there.” No, I'm serious. That's what's very frustrating for dictators when they don't know what happened,” Biden said at the time.
Official Beijing's reaction was swift and angry. The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that such remarks “violate diplomatic etiquette and seriously infringe on China’s political dignity.”
Biden and Xi meeting
On November 15, Xi Jinping arrived in San Francisco to meet with US President Joe Biden.
The leaders of the United States and China managed to reach an agreement to resume military ties and closer bilateral communication.
Beijing severed those contacts last year when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which Chinese authorities consider part of China.
