WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has said that he still expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the “near term” following angering Beijing by referring to Xi as a “dictator.”
“I expect to be meeting with President Xi in the future, near term,” Joe Biden told a joint news conference with India’s Prime Minister Modi in Washington.
Biden still Wants to meet Chinese President
Earlier, Biden called Xi Jinping a “dictator”, saying that Xi was very uncomfortable when a Chinese balloon was blown off course over the United States recently.
Beijing termed as “ridiculous” Joe Biden’s remarks equating Chinese leader Xi Jinping with “dictators.”
“The relevant comments by Washington are extremely ridiculous, the US seriously violates basic facts, diplomatic protocol and China’s political dignity,” Mao Ning, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, told a regular briefing on Wednesday, saying: “They are an open political incitement.”
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 the temperature between Washington and Beijing.
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 that 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.