' fill='%230E4F97'%3E%3Cg id='Group-5' transform='translate(370.000000, 11.000000)'%3E%3Cg id='avatar' transform='translate(6.000000, 4.000000)'%3E%3Ccircle id='Oval' cx='8' cy='4' r='4'%3E%3C/circle%3E%3Cpath d='M7.12864205,10 L8.87135795,10 C11.558649,10 14.0087196,11.5384024 15.1762205,13.958831 L16,15.6666667 L16,15.6666667 L15.3374858,17.5134983 C15.228016,17.8186575 14.9774027,18.051811 14.6651459,18.1389975 L8,20 L8,20 L1.33485405,18.1389975 C1.02259733,18.051811 0.771984007,17.8186575 0.662514216,17.5134983 L0,15.6666667 L0,15.6666667 L0.823779545,13.958831 C1.99128041,11.5384024 4.44135104,10 7.12864205,10 Z' id='Rectangle'%3E%3C/path%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Biden equates Xi Jinping with ‘dictators’ at Democrats’ donor event
US president says Chinese leader was angry over being unaware of alleged spy balloon the Americans shot down in February, just as a tyrant would be; Beijing says ‘extremely absurd’
SAN FRANCISCO, United States — US President Joe Biden on Tuesday equated his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping with “dictators” as he addressed a Democratic Party donors reception in the presence of journalists.
Speaking at a fundraiser in northern California, Biden said Xi had been angered over an incident in February when a Chinese balloon — which Washington says was used for spying — flew over the United States before being shot down by American military jets.
“The 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’t know it was there,” Biden said.
“I’m serious. That was the great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened.”
Biden’s remarks come days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing aimed at re-establishing lines of communication in order to avoid conflict between the two global powers.
The multifaceted rivalry between China and the United States turned into a full-blown diplomatic crisis with February’s balloon incident.
Responding to Biden’s comments Wednesday, Beijing slammed them as an “open political provocation.”
“The relevant remarks by the US side are extremely absurd and irresponsible, they seriously violate basic facts, diplomatic protocol, and China’s political dignity,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a briefing.
“China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this,” she added.
Biden, who at 80 is running for re-election, on Tuesday waved off concerns about the Asian giant, telling donors that “China has real economic difficulties.”
Still, on the subject of China and Xi, Biden said that “we’re in a situation now where he wants to have a relationship again.”
Blinken “did a good job” on his Beijing trip, but “it’s going to take time,” Biden added.
The US president did bring up another prickly point regarding communist-ruled China: a recent summit in which leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States — known as the Quad group — sought to boost peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific maritime region.
The four countries are “working hand in glove in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean,” Biden said.
“What he (Xi) was really upset about was that I insisted that we unite the… so-called Quad,” Biden said.
Tuesday was not the first time Biden has made significant, even provocative, statements at fund-raising receptions, usually small-scale events at which cameras and recordings are forbidden but where journalists may listen to and transcribe the president’s opening remarks.
At one such event last October, for example, Biden spoke of the threat of nuclear “Armageddon” from Russia.
