{"id":579536,"date":"2023-06-21T12:24:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T09:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/biden-calls-chinese-president-xi-jinping-a-dictator\/"},"modified":"2023-06-21T12:24:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T09:24:10","slug":"biden-calls-chinese-president-xi-jinping-a-dictator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/biden-calls-chinese-president-xi-jinping-a-dictator\/","title":{"rendered":"#Biden calls Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a \u201cdictator\u201d\u00a0on Tuesday, sparking an angry reaction from Beijing in a sudden flare-up after talks between the two superpowers aimed at easing their geopolitical animosity.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in California, Biden suggested that Xi was embarrassed because he did not know about the alleged Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States earlier this year, despite his status as China\u2019s all-powerful leader.<\/p>\n

China quickly hit back at the remarks, branding them “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”<\/p>\n

The president’s descript<\/a>ion of Xi came one day after a high-level visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, an effort to calm tensions between the U.S. and China. Blinken told NBC News<\/a> after his visit that the spy balloon \u201cchapter should be closed\u201d and both sides pledged to try and stabilize the relationship.<\/p>\n

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Biden, however, revisited the subject before a room of more than 125 attendees that included California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who also spoke at the fundraiser.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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\u2019t know it was there,\u201d Biden said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a great embarrassment for dictators,\u201d he added, \u201cwhen they didn\u2019t know what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The riposte from Beijing was swift.<\/p>\n

Mao Ning, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Biden’s comments were “extremely absurd and irresponsible, seriously contradicting the basic facts.” He accused the president of “seriously violating diplomatic protocol and seriously infringing on China\u2019s political dignity, which is an open political provocation.”<\/p>\n

China, he told a daily briefing, was “strongly dissatisfied.”<\/p>\n

Biden said the Chinese balloon was blown off course without Xi\u2019s knowledge, adding \u201cwhen it got shot down, he (Xi) was very embarrassed and he denied it was even there.\u201d He did not walk back the comments later on Tuesday at a second fundraiser.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Biden was referring to an alleged Chinese spy balloon that floated across the United States in February. The balloon, which China maintains was an unmanned civilian airship that was conducting meteorological research, was shot down by the Air Force off the coast of South Carolina after it had hovered above sensitive U.S. military installations. The incident became an intense point of diplomatic conflict between Beijing and Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though Blinken\u2019s visit was considered relatively successful \u2014 Biden said at the fundraiser his secretary of state did \u201ca good job\u201d \u2014 China and the U.S. have not re-established several military communication channels that were cut after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, a self-ruling island off China\u2019s coast that Beijing claims as its own territory. There were no breakthroughs in the meeting beyond an agreement the two sides needed to stabilize the relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two countries have had tense military brushes in recent weeks in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea that some have found particularly concerning. China said it was defending its national sovereignty in the two most recent instances. The U.S. called Beijing\u2019s acts dangerous and emphasized that American service members were operating in international airspace and waters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blinken\u2019s visit was the first by a secretary of state since 2018. He had postponed a planned trip<\/a> in February after the Chinese spy balloon debacle. Biden said last month that his plan with Xi to keep an ongoing dialogue had been derailed by \u201cthis silly balloon.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Tuesday night’s first fundraiser, Biden said Xi had become more concerned with the Quad strategic security group, which is made up of the U.S., Australia, Japan and India. The group has spoken openly about acting as a buffer to Chinese interests, but Biden said he assured Xi that China did not need to be concerned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Biden also told the crowd they should not be concerned about recent friction between Beijing and Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry about China. I mean, worry about China but don\u2019t worry about China,\u201d he said as the crowd laughed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Phil McCausland<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Phil McCausland is an NBC News reporter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Alexander Smith, Janis Mackey Frayer and Jennifer Jett contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n