China hits out at US after Joe Biden calls Xi Jinping a dictator | Financial Times
China has responded with outrage after US president Joe Biden called his counterpart Xi Jinping a dictator in a row that threatens the nascent attempt to stabilise the deteriorating relationship between the powers.
Biden said at a campaign fundraising event on Tuesday that Xi had not known about an alleged spy balloon that flew over the US this year. The incident sent bilateral ties plunging to the lowest point in decades.
That s what s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn t know what happened, the US president told about 130 supporters at a gathering at a private home in California.
The Chinese foreign ministry described Biden s remarks as extremely absurd and irresponsible , adding that they seriously violate basic facts, diplomatic protocols and China s political dignity .
It also described the US president s comments at the fundraiser as open political provocations .
Biden added of Xi: [The balloon] 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.
His comments came in the same week that Antony Blinken the first US secretary of state to visit Beijing since 2018 met Xi in an effort to repair ties.
One day before speaking at the fundraising event, Biden had praised Blinken for doing a hell of a job in China, adding that efforts to improve relations were on the right trail .
via www.ft.com
That Xi sounds like a regular Corn Pop.