After what appeared a productive assembly between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese language President Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday, an offhand comment by Biden may set again the connection that the 2 leaders have been working to fix.
“After at the moment, would you continue to check with President Xi as a dictator?” a CNN reporter requested Biden on the finish of a post-summit briefing, referring to the President’s earlier labeling of the Chinese language chief that has incensed Beijing earlier than.
“Properly, look, he’s. I imply he’s a dictator within the sense that right here’s a man who runs a rustic that may be a communist nation primarily based on a type of authorities completely completely different than ours,” Biden responded.
“After at the moment, would you continue to check with President Xi as a dictator?” asks a reporter.
“Look, he’s. He is a dictator within the sense that he is a man who runs a rustic that may be a communist nation that is primarily based on a type of authorities completely completely different than ours,” says Pres. Biden. pic.twitter.com/JjZeGBNcU2
— Final Name (@LastCallCNBC) November 16, 2023
Biden’s feedback got here simply after he had praised the progress made throughout his talks with Xi, describing them as “a few of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had.”
The 2 leaders, who met face-to-face for the primary time in a 12 months in a bid to restore the deteriorating relationship between their international locations, agreed to revive army communications, cooperate on addressing synthetic intelligence dangers, and curb the movement of fentanyl from China to the U.S., although they didn’t attain any decision on different points, together with the way forward for Taiwan, ongoing tariffs and sanctions, and the discharge of U.S. residents detained in China.
Learn Extra: Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden Search to Flip Again the Clock at San Francisco Summit
However Biden’s “dictator” remark may overshadow efforts made to chill tensions. Beijing has not but formally responded to the comment, and Xi made no point out of it when addressing U.S. enterprise leaders at a dinner occasion later Wednesday night time.
In a press release launched after the assembly, China’s overseas ministry emphasised that “so long as the 2 international locations respect one another, coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation, they are going to be totally able to rising above variations and discover the precise manner for the 2 main international locations to get together with one another.” The assertion additionally mentioned: “It’s important that they recognize one another’s rules and purple traces, and chorus from flip-flopping, being provocative, and crossing the traces.”
It’s not the primary time Biden has referred to his Chinese language counterpart as a dictator. In January final 12 months, he mentioned China and Russia have been betting that the U.S. would “grow to be extra like them,” as in, he clarified, “a spot for the autocrat, the dictator, the strongman.” Then, in April 2022, he listed China amongst international locations which can be “basically dictatorships” throughout a speech at a Democratic fundraiser.
In November final 12 months, Xi advised Biden when the 2 met in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 summit that the “so-called ‘democracy versus authoritarianism’ narrative will not be the defining function of at the moment’s world,” and that “China has Chinese language-style democracy,” Chinese language state media reported on the time.
However, in June this 12 months, Biden as soon as once more referred to as Xi a dictator, explaining at a fundraiser in California that the rationale why Xi was upset after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese language spy balloon in U.S. airspace in February was as a result of the Chinese language President was caught off guard by all the incident.
“That’s what’s an important embarrassment for dictators, after they didn’t know what occurred,” Biden mentioned.
In response, the Chinese language overseas ministry referred to as Biden’s remarks “extraordinarily absurd and irresponsible” and “blatant political provocation,” saying that they “go completely towards details and critically violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”
“With the most recent irresponsible remarks about China’s political system and its prime chief, individuals can not assist however query the sincerity of the U.S. aspect,” China’s embassy in Washington mentioned in a press release on the time.
However Biden doubled down on his description of Xi and insisted it will not have a destructive impression on U.S.-China relations. “I count on to be assembly with President Xi someday sooner or later, near-term. And I don’t assume it’s had any actual consequence,” he mentioned.
After Wednesday’s post-summit briefing, the White Home has not supplied any remark or clarification on Biden’s newest “dictator” remarks.