China slams Biden for equating Xi to 'dictators'

Beijing says US President's comments are 'extremely ridiculous and irresponsible'

US President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping at a meeting in November 2022. AFP

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday condemned comments in which US President Joe Biden equated Chinese leader Xi Jinping with “dictators” as an “open political provocation”.

Speaking at a fundraising event in California on Tuesday, Mr Biden said Mr Xi had been angered over an incident in February when a Chinese balloon – which Washington says was used for spying – flew over the US before being shot down by American military jets, AFP reported.

His comments come days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing aimed at re-establishing lines of communication to avoid conflict between the two global powers.

“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,” Mr Biden said.

“I'm serious. That was the great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn't know what happened.”

The Chinese ministry condemned Mr Biden's comments.

“They're an open political provocation,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.

“The relevant remarks by the US side are extremely ridiculous and irresponsible, they seriously violate basic facts, diplomatic protocol and China's political dignity.

“China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this.”

On Wednesday, the State Department rebuffed any indication that the President's comments had derailed the progress made on Mr Blinken's trip.

“Not at all,” said spokesman Vedant Patel.

“The President believes that diplomacy, including this recent trip undertaken by the Secretary, is a responsible way to manage tensions, clear up misperceptions, avoid miscalculations and all of this is in our interest to do that.

“That does not mean of course, we will not be blunt and forthright about our differences.”

The rivalry between China and the US turned into a full-blown diplomatic crisis with February's balloon incident.

Beijing on Wednesday reiterated its protest against Washington's decision to shoot it down.

“The United States should have dealt with it calmly, rationally and professionally, but its distortion of facts, abuse of force, and escalation of hype have fully exposed its hegemonic and bullying nature,” Ms Mao said.

Russia also criticised Mr Biden's comment, with the Kremlin on Wednesday saying it reflected Washington's “unpredictable” foreign policy.

“This is a very contradictory manifestation of US foreign policy, which points to a significant element of unpredictability,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Mr Biden, who at 80 is running for re-election, on Tuesday told donors that “we're in a situation now where [Mr Xi] wants to have a relationship again”.

Mr Blinken “did a good job” on his Beijing trip, but “it's going to take time”, Mr Biden added.

The US President also brought up another prickly point regarding China: a recent summit in which leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the US – 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”, Mr Biden said.

“What he [Mr Xi] was really upset about was that I insisted that we unite the … so-called Quad,” Mr Biden said.

Tuesday was not the first time Mr Biden has made significant, even provocative, statements at fundraising receptions. These are 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, Mr Biden spoke of the threat of nuclear “Armageddon” from Russia.