WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator”, saying that Xi was very uncomfortable when a Chinese balloon was blown off course over the United States recently, Western media reported on Tuesday.
US-China Relations: Biden calls President Xi a “dictator”
Joe Biden expressed these remarks during at a fundraiser in California a day after the US top diplomat Antony Blinken met President Xi on a visit to China that was aimed at easing temperature between Washington and Beijing.
“The reason why Xi got very distressed in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy apparatus in it was, he did not know it was there,” the US President said. “That’s a great unease for dictators. When they did not know what occurred. That was not supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course,” Biden maintained.
According to AFP, a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over American airspace in February. US Secretary of State Blinken and President Xi on Monday agreed in their interaction to stabilize the intense contention between the US and China so it does not turn into conflict, but failed to yield any major breakthrough during an infrequent trip to Beijing by the US top diplomat.
The two sides did agree to continue diplomatic interactions with more visits by US officials in the coming days. Joe Biden in person said on Monday he believed ties between the two sides were on the right track, and he hinted that progress was made during Blinken’s visit.
President Biden said on Tuesday that President Xi had been worried by Quad strategic security group, which includes Australia, Japan, India and the US. Biden said he earlier told President Xi Washington was not trying to circle China with the Quad.
