Beijing — China’s foreign ministry criticized President Biden’s remarks comparing Chinese leader Xi Jinping to “dictators” as a provocative political act.
During a fundraiser in California, Biden claimed that Xi was angered by an incident in February where a Chinese balloon, alleged to be a spy device, was shot down by American military jets.
These comments come shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing to establish communication channels and prevent conflict between the two nations.
“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,” said Biden. “I’m serious. That was the great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened.”
Beijing’s foreign ministry described Biden’s comments as “ridiculous.”
“The relevant remarks by the U.S. side are extremely ridiculous and irresponsible, they seriously violate basic facts, diplomatic protocol and China’s political dignity,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning during a briefing on Wednesday. “China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this.”
The background, and Russia’s take
The rivalry between China and the United States escalated into a diplomatic crisis following the balloon incident in February.
Beijing reiterated its protest against the U.S. decision to shoot down the balloon.
“The United States should have dealt with it calmly, rationally, and professionally, but its distortion of facts, abuse of force, and escalation of hype have fully exposed its hegemonic and bullying nature,” said Mao.
Russia criticized Biden’s comments as well, with the Kremlin stating that it reflects Washington’s unpredictable foreign policy.
“This is a very contradictory manifestation of U.S. foreign policy, which points to a significant element of unpredictability,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia and China have expressed stronger solidarity with each other. During a visit to Beijing, Russia’s top diplomat spoke of their joint efforts to establish a new “multipolar, just, democratic world order.”
Biden and U.S.-China diplomacy
Biden, who is running for re-election at the age of 80, stated that “we’re in a situation now where (Xi) wants to have a relationship again.”
Blinken’s trip to Beijing was deemed successful by Biden, but he acknowledged that it will take time to rebuild the relationship.
Biden also mentioned another point of contention with China, the recent Quad summit where the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States aimed to promote peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The four countries are working hand in glove in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean,” Biden said, adding that Xi was upset about his push for unity among the Quad.
This is not the first time Biden has made significant statements at fundraising events. Last October, he spoke about the nuclear threat from Russia.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
