On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden referred to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as “a dictator” while addressing a fundraiser in California. Joe Biden also stated that Xi was very embarrassed when a Chinese spy balloon was shot down over sensitive American locations. Interestingly, Biden’s words came just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to defuse tensions.
“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 at the fundraiser. “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,” Biden added.
Biden also stated that China “has some real economic difficulties” right now
In February, a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon passed across US airspace. The shooting down of the balloon, as well as reciprocal visits by US and Taiwanese officials, exacerbated US-China tensions. Biden also stated that China “has some real economic difficulties” right now, citing data showing that China’s economy fell in May, with industrial output and retail sales growth falling short of expectations. The economic numbers show that Beijing must do more to support a wobbly post-pandemic recovery. The Chinese government will undoubtedly be outraged by Joe Biden’s extraordinary remark.
In a 35-minute discussion earlier on Monday, Antony Blinken and Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly ‘expressed willingness to talk.’ Xi also stated that he intended to carry through the agreements he and President Biden made in Bali. Blinken and Chinese officials had already discussed a number of controversial matters, including trade, Taiwan, human rights, Chinese military activities in the South China Sea, and Russian involvement in Ukraine, but there had been little wiggle room.
Xi made reference to progress being made and particular agreements being made on a number of issues, but he did not go into further detail
Xi made reference to progress being made and particular agreements being made on a number of issues, but he did not go into further detail. He expressed his happiness with the development and expressed the wish that Blinken’s visit would help to improve the state of China-US ties. With Blinken’s visit, the US and China engaged at their highest level since President Biden took office. It was also the first visit to Beijing by a US Secretary of State in five years. Senior officials from both nations are anticipated to visit each other in the future, which could result in a meeting between Xi and Biden in the near future.
According to a US official, Blinken spoke with Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, for three hours earlier on Monday. Blinken’s visit, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came at a crucial juncture in US-China relations and necessitated a decision between collaboration and conflict. The ministry attributed the deteriorating relations to the US’s faulty policies that resulted from its flawed understanding of China. It exhorted the US to take action to reverse the deterioration in relations and stop the “China threat theory,” lift unilateral sanctions imposed on China, stop the repression of China’s technical advancement, and stop meddling arbitrarily in China’s internal affairs.