President Joe Biden made it clear that he does not regret calling his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a “dictator” because he believes his stance will not complicate the relationship between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China.
Just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Xi Jinping in an attempt to ease tensions between the two countries, Biden referred to the Chinese leader as a “dictator.”
Unsurprisingly, this did not sit well with the Chinese regime, which shortly after that called the U.S. president’s comments “a blatant political provocation” that violated diplomatic etiquette.
Biden stands by calling Xi a 'dictator' after comment angers China https://t.co/2qqGuYhuj8
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Despite this, when Joe Biden was asked this Thursday if he believed his words would have a negative impact on the relationship between the two powers, the U.S. president said no. “The answer to your [question] is ‘no,’” he said, adding that he did not believe his statements were of “any real consequence.”
According to reports, the Chinese government summoned the U.S. ambassador to China as a diplomatic rebuke for Biden’s remarks. However, during the press conference, the U.S. president defended his words and insisted, “The idea of my choosing and avoiding saying what I think is the facts, with regard to the relationship… with China, is just not something I’m going to change very much.”
After this, Biden also said that he nevertheless expects to meet with his counterpart “sometime in the future, in the near term.”
Xi called for “mutual respect and sincerity”
Shortly before Biden called Xi a dictator, the Chinese leader said he considered it of the utmost importance that interactions between the two countries “always be based on mutual respect and sincerity.”
Blinken’s successful journey
The Secretary of State had a successful trip to China that included several meetings with high-ranking Chinese government officials, including the Asian giant’s top international policymaker, Wang Yi, and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
However, the highlight was when Blinken met with President Xi for more than 30 minutes. “President Biden asked me to travel to Beijing because he believes that the United States and China have an obligation and responsibility to manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing that. It’s in the interest of the United States, in the interests of China, and in the interest of the world,” the Secretary of State said after the meeting.
