The US president’s expressions occurred during a statement to the press in which he assured that “progress” had been made in the meeting that both leaders held on November 15 in California, but reiterated that his Chinese counterpart was a dictator “in the sense that a communist country rules based on a form of government completely different from ours.” China rejected the statements.
First modification:
3 min
President Joe Biden’s remarks came immediately after he called the four-hour meeting with Xi Jinping “one of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had.”
Joe Biden’s reference found a quick response from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which through its spokesperson Mao Ning described it as “extremely erroneous,” adding that the efforts of “malicious people who try to open a gap” in relations between the two countries.
The meeting took place within the framework of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Agreement (APEC), which takes place until November 17 in California, and allowed consensus to be reached between the two largest economies in the world. world in sensitive areas such as military cooperation and the fight against fentanyl.
It even found positive responses in the markets, but it is now difficult to predict how long these trends can be sustained, in light of a foreseeable reactivation of rhetorical hostilities.
A repeated chapter
It is not the first time that what is perceived as a rapprochement between the world’s two economic giants has been disrupted by setbacks.
It is also not the first time that Biden has referred to the Chinese government as a “dictatorship.” In January 2022 he assured that China and Russia were betting that the United States would become, like them, “a place for the autocrat, the dictator, the strong man.”
In April of that same year, the US president included China among the regimes that are “essentially dictatorships” during a fundraising event for the Democratic Party.
Months later, when they met in November in Bali, Indonesia, within the framework of the G20 summit, Xi responded directly to Biden, ensuring that the narrative of “dictatorship versus democracy” is no longer valid to define today’s world, and that Beijing constituted a “China-style democracy.”
In February of this year, the detection of an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying in US airspace led to a new exchange between Washington and Beijing.
On that occasion, Biden maintained that the incident caught Xi off guard, which he interpreted as a “shameful position for a dictator: not even knowing what happened.” His statements were described as “extremely absurd and irresponsible” by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Differences to be resolved
The APEC meeting did not offer answers to some of the biggest challenges in the bilateral relationship, although it seemed to set a more conciliatory tone than the previous meeting in Bali.
Even Taiwan, which proclaims its independence from China, with the support of the United States, celebrated that its ally successfully established the basic agreement that any differences between Beijing and the island had to be resolved by peaceful means.
Other Asian partners of the United States were not as satisfied with the rapprochement. South Korea regretted the Chinese side’s unwillingness to support tougher sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
![Xi Jinping addresses business leaders during a dinner on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco, California, on November 15](https://s.france24.com/media/display/62af2b10-84a2-11ee-b7c2-005056bfb2b6/CHina%202.jpg)
However, the meeting has served Xi to reinforce a perception of global influence in his country, on the grounds that he is perceived as an equal by the leader of the rival power.
“China is emphasizing to its own people that the country is a world power that plays an important role in the international community, which incites their internal nationalism,” says Madoka Fukuda, professor of international politics and China studies at Hosei University. from Tokyo.
With AP and Reuters
#China #calls #Bidens #reference #dictator #irresponsible #manipulation