Global Courant
WASHINGTON
US President Joe Biden referred to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, as a dictator at a fundraising event in California on Tuesday.
Biden said Xi was embarrassed by the recent tensions over a suspected Chinese spy bubble that deviated from its course over the United States.
“The reason Xi Jinping was so upset when I dropped that balloon with two covered wagons full of spy equipment was because he didn’t know it was there. No I am serious. “It was the biggest embarrassment for dictators when they didn’t understand what was happening,” he said.
On February 4, an F-22 fighter jet, on Biden’s orders, shot down China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon as it floated off the coast of South Carolina, firing a heat-seeking missile.
“He wasn’t supposed to go where this happened,” Biden said. “When he was shot, (Xi) was so embarrassed and denied he was even there.”
His remarks came a day after Foreign Minister Antony Blinken concluded talks with Xi and other senior Chinese officials in Beijing and said Biden was “doing a good job”.
According to multiple sources, the US and China have agreed to stabilize their relations and keep communication channels open to avoid an all-out conflict between the two countries.
Biden also said on Monday that relations between the US and China were “on the right track”, suggesting progress had been made during Blinken’s trip.
“I think we’re on track to make sure we can do both – a safer world because America is stepping in like never before. We have an economy that benefits everyone,” he said.
Relations between the US and China deteriorated due to a trade war during the Trump administration and have remained strained ever since, amid Beijing’s assertive claims over Taiwan and China’s so-called spy bubble over the US.
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