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KENTFIELD, CALIFORNIA / WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Tuesday called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator and said Xi was deeply embarrassed when a Chinese balloon exploded over the United States earlier this year.
Biden made these remarks the day after the Secretary of State Anthony Blink He met Xi on a trip to China that was meant to ease tensions between the two countries.
“The reason Xi Jinping was so upset when I dropped that balloon with two box cars full of spy gear in it was because he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said at a fundraiser in California.
“This is a huge embarrassment to dictators. When they didn’t know what happened. This wasn’t supposed to go where it was. The track was blown,” Biden added.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over US airspace in February. This incident and the exchange of visits by US and Taiwanese officials have recently exaggerated US-China tensions.
In March, Xi secured an unprecedented third term as president after in October he secured another five years as head of the ruling Communist Party, making him China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
Biden also said that China “is facing real economic difficulties.”
China’s economy faltered in May as industrial production and retail sales growth missed expectations, adding to expectations that Beijing will need to do more to support a fragile post-pandemic recovery.
The World Bank earlier this month forecast US growth for 2023 at 1.1%, more than double the forecast of 0.5% in January, while Chinese growth is expected to pick up to 5.6%, compared with the 4.3% forecast in January.
Blinken and Xi agreed in their meeting on Monday to stabilize the bitter rivalry between Washington and Beijing so that it does not deviate from conflict, but failed to achieve any breakthrough during the secretary of state’s rare visit to China.
They have agreed to continue diplomatic engagement with more visits by US officials in the coming weeks and months. Biden said later on Tuesday that US climate envoy John Kerry may go to China soon.
Biden said Monday that he believes relations between the two countries are on the right track, and noted that progress was made during Blinken’s trip.
On Tuesday, Biden said Xi was concerned about the so-called strategic security quad, which includes Japan, Australia, India and the United States. The US president said he told Xi earlier that the US is not trying to surround China with the Quad.
“He called me and told me not to do it because it puts him in trouble,” Biden said.
Later this week, Biden will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China is expected to be a topic of discussion between the two leaders.
Biden made these remarks the day after the Secretary of State Anthony Blink He met Xi on a trip to China that was meant to ease tensions between the two countries.
“The reason Xi Jinping was so upset when I dropped that balloon with two box cars full of spy gear in it was because he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said at a fundraiser in California.
“This is a huge embarrassment to dictators. When they didn’t know what happened. This wasn’t supposed to go where it was. The track was blown,” Biden added.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over US airspace in February. This incident and the exchange of visits by US and Taiwanese officials have recently exaggerated US-China tensions.
In March, Xi secured an unprecedented third term as president after in October he secured another five years as head of the ruling Communist Party, making him China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
Biden also said that China “is facing real economic difficulties.”
China’s economy faltered in May as industrial production and retail sales growth missed expectations, adding to expectations that Beijing will need to do more to support a fragile post-pandemic recovery.
The World Bank earlier this month forecast US growth for 2023 at 1.1%, more than double the forecast of 0.5% in January, while Chinese growth is expected to pick up to 5.6%, compared with the 4.3% forecast in January.
Blinken and Xi agreed in their meeting on Monday to stabilize the bitter rivalry between Washington and Beijing so that it does not deviate from conflict, but failed to achieve any breakthrough during the secretary of state’s rare visit to China.
They have agreed to continue diplomatic engagement with more visits by US officials in the coming weeks and months. Biden said later on Tuesday that US climate envoy John Kerry may go to China soon.
Biden said Monday that he believes relations between the two countries are on the right track, and noted that progress was made during Blinken’s trip.
On Tuesday, Biden said Xi was concerned about the so-called strategic security quad, which includes Japan, Australia, India and the United States. The US president said he told Xi earlier that the US is not trying to surround China with the Quad.
“He called me and told me not to do it because it puts him in trouble,” Biden said.
Later this week, Biden will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China is expected to be a topic of discussion between the two leaders.
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