Global Courant
President Biden says that during his tenure as vice president, he “spent a lot of time with” Chinese President Xi Jinping, sometimes alone.
Biden’s comments about his meetings with the top Chinese politician came during a speech he delivered Wednesday from Chicago on “Bidenomics,” a White House-promoted term related to the president’s economic agenda.
“I have long said, and I mean this, I was on the Tibetan plateau with Xi Jinping,” Biden said. “I’ve traveled 17,000 miles with him. I’ve talked to him more than any other head of state because it started when I was vice president and President Hu was the president and he was the vice president. We knew he was going to be the successor.”
“It was inappropriate for Barack to spend that time… but I spent a lot of time with him,” he continued. “I only met him – just him and me and a simultaneous interpreter – 68 times, 68 hours, 68 times, over 68 hours.”
CHINA BURNS BACK AT BIDEN FOR CALLING PRESIDENT XI WHO JINPED A DICTATOR: ‘EXTREMELY ABSURD AND IRRESPONSIBLE’
President Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 14, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
“By the way, I turned in all my notes,” he added.
In response to Biden’s comments, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability wrote in a tweet, “Of course, President Biden has met with Xi Jinping 68 times.”
“CCP affiliates were the Bidens’ best clients,” Republicans on the committee added.
Earlier this month, Biden drew criticism from China after calling Xi a dictator at a fundraiser in California.
Biden said Xi was embarrassed after the US Air Force shot down China’s spy balloon. “The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset when I shot down that balloon with two wagons full of spy equipment in it was that he didn’t know it was there. That’s a great shame for dictators if they didn’t know what happened” , he said then.
But the president defended his remark about the Chinese president, insisting that it has not disrupted the working relationship between China and the United States.
Asked earlier this month whether referring to Xi as a dictator complicates America’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China, Biden said, “The answer to your (question) is ‘no.'”
BIDEN STANDS BY CALLING XI A “DICTATOR” AFTER ANGERS CHINA COMMENTS
Biden called President Xi a dictator earlier this month and drew criticism from China, which called the remark “extremely absurd and irresponsible”. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
“When we talk to our allies and partners around the world, including India, let’s leave the idea of my choice and avoid saying what I think are the facts regarding the relationship with India, with China, just not something that I “I’m going to change a lot,” Biden said.
The president further claimed that the US and China continue to have a good relationship, citing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the country this month.
“I believe, and I’ve been saying this for a while, that the hysteria about the relationship with China is collapsing and moving, etc, etc. We had an incident that caused some confusion, you could say” said Biden. ‘But Secretary Blinken made a great trip to China. I expect to meet with President Xi in the near future. And I don’t think it’s had any real consequences.’
But China has criticized Biden for his comments that Xi is a dictator, saying the comment is “extremely absurd and irresponsible”.
“The US comments are extremely absurd and irresponsible. It is a blatant political provocation,” State Department spokesman Mao Ning said at a daily briefing on Wednesday. “China is expressing strong dissatisfaction and opposition.”
Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, speaks during a daily briefing at the foreign ministry office in Beijing, Monday, April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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Mao said Biden’s comments at the fundraiser “are totally contrary to the facts and gravely violate diplomatic protocol, and seriously infringe on China’s political dignity.”
At the private campaign reception in Kentfield, Biden also highlighted cooperation with China and Xi, though he admitted, “It will take time.”
Lawrence Richard of Fox News contributed to this report.
