This statement comes days after the 80-year-old president described his Chinese counterpart as a “dictator” during a meeting of the Democratic Party, a description that angered Beijing.
In response to a question about these remarks Thursday during a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Joe Biden said he would not hesitate to “say what I think is the reality” about China.
“It’s not something I would change,” said the president, who is known for sometimes making candid statements that surprise even his closest advisers.
He expressed his rejection of “the theory that the relationship with China is collapsing.”
He also once again praised Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s “excellent visit” to China to turn the page on the latest episode of tension over the Chinese airship that was shot down by the United States off its east coast in February.
Joe Biden mentioned this incident during a reception Tuesday in California with some Democratic Party financiers.
“The reason Xi Jinping was so upset when I dropped that balloon that contained two boxes full of spy equipment was because he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said.
He continued, “I’m talking seriously. This is the great embarrassment of dictators, when they don’t know what’s going on.”
China immediately denounced this “provocation”.
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will, in theory at least, have two opportunities to meet before the end of the year, first at the G-20 summit in India in September, and then at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit organized by the Americans in San Francisco in November.
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