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China blasts Biden for Xi ‘dictator’ slur

CHINA blasted US President Joe Biden today for calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator” just after a summit aimed at improving relations.

During a political fundraising event in California on Tuesday, the US president said that Mr Xi was embarrassed over the recent tensions surrounding a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been shot down by the Air Force over the East Coast.

“That’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. 

“It was blown off course up through Alaska and then down through the US. And he didn’t know about it,” Mr Biden claimed. 

He said: “When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed. He denied it was even there.”

The slur by President Biden comes just over a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing that allegedly sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historic low.

Mr Blinken’s visit, during which he met President Xi, was welcomed by both sides as a helpful contribution towards easing tensions between China and the US. 

After the series of meetings Mr Blinken said that both sides recognised the need to “stabilise” the relationship.

President Xi had also welcomed the meetings with the US saying: “The competition among major countries is not in line with the trend of the times and cannot solve the problems of the US itself and the challenges facing the world.” 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said today that Mr Biden’s comments “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”

Ms Mao said: “It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition.

“The US remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible.” 

Ms Mao reiterated that the balloon was intended for meteorological research and had been accidentally blown off-course.

She said: “The US should have handled it in a calm and professional manner.

“However, the US distorted facts and used force to hype up the incident, fully revealing its nature of bullying and hegemony.”

China analyst Carlos Martinez labelled Mr Biden “far more of a dictator” than President Xi.

He said: “The people of both China and the US want a relationship based on peace and co-operation. 

“The Chinese leadership is pursuing just that whilst the US leadership is pursuing a reckless new cold war to preserve US hegemony.”

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