2023-06-21 04:11:14
US President Joe Biden has described his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, as a dictator, and said Xi was deeply embarrassed when a Chinese balloon was shot down over the United States this year.
Biden made these statements the day following Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met Xi on a visit to China aimed at easing tensions between the two countries.
“The reason Xi Jinping was so upset when I brought down that blimp with the spy equipment on it was because he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said at a fundraiser in California.
He added, “This is a huge embarrassment for dictators. When they don’t know what’s going on. This (blimp) wasn’t supposed to go there. It just went off course.”
A suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over US airspace last February.
This incident, along with the exchange of visits between US and Taiwanese officials, has increased tension between the US and China recently, as Biden said that China is “facing real economic difficulties.”
The Chinese economy faltered in May, as industrial production and retail sales growth missed expectations, adding to speculation that Beijing will need to do more to support a fragile post-pandemic recovery.
This month, the World Bank expected the United States to achieve 1.1 percent growth in 2023, more than double the forecast of 0.5 percent in January, while Chinese growth is expected to rise to 5.6 percent, compared with 4.3 percent in January.
Blinken and Xi agreed, last Monday, in their meeting to stabilize the intense rivalry between Washington and Beijing so that it does not deviate into conflict, but he failed to achieve any significant progress on the issues of contention between the two sides during his rare visit to China.
They agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue and for US officials to pay more visits to China in the coming weeks and months.
Biden said he believes relations between the two countries are on the right track, and indicated that progress was made during Blinken’s trip.
He said Xi is concerned regarding the so-called Quadripartite Security Dialogue Group, which includes Japan, Australia, India and the United States.
The US president said he told Xi earlier that the United States is not trying to encircle China through this group.
He added, “He called me and told me not to do it because it puts him in trouble.”
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