US President Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "dictator" and claimed that the incident of dropping a Chinese spy balloon over American territory had caused him "embarrassment".
Biden made the remarks during a donor event in California. To an audience of Democratic donors, Biden said, "The reason Xi Jinping was very upset, referring to the incidents in which I ordered a balloon with two boxes full of spy equipment to be dropped, is that he didn't even know it was there."
"It's a great embarrassment for dictators when they don't know what happened," Biden said, referring to the Chinese president. The incident, which took place earlier this year, caused a major break in relations between Beijing and Washington and an atmosphere of tension and vigilance in the United States.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Secretary of State Blinken, Photo: AP
The comments come after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday for an extended conversation in the capital Beijing.
Diplomats from both sides described the talks as "positive" and said they were held in a "friendly atmosphere." The Chinese president said the two sides had committed to moving forward with the outline agreed upon by President Biden and Xi during their meeting in Bali in November of last year.
"I hope to see stable and permanent relations between the United States and China. I believe that the countries can overcome the various difficulties in relations," Xi said during the closed conversation between the two, according to China's Xinhua news agency. The meeting between the two was uncertain and it was not at all clear that the Chinese president would agree to meet with the secretary of state.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us