Media: for US officials, Biden’s words about “dictator” Xi Jinping came as a surprise

Senior US officials were caught off guard by a statement by US President Joe Biden, in which he called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator, commenting on the February story with a downed balloon. About it informed NBC channel.

According to him, US officials privately told their Chinese counterparts that Biden’s wording did not signify a change in the White House’s official China policy. They also believe that this situation will not nullify the progress that was made as a result of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Beijing the day before.

“Secretary Blinken conducted the meeting well and made some progress. We have every reason to count on the further development of this progress,” one of them told the TV channel.

According to another interlocutor, Blinken is accustomed to the president’s hype-inducing statements, so he “does not get upset.” Beijing, the official said, was more offended by Biden’s words that “Xi is not omnipotent” and did not have complete information about the balloon.

Earlier on June 20, the media reported that Biden called Xi a dictator, discussing the February incident with a Chinese balloon shot down by the US military. These words were spoken in California at a meeting that Biden organized to raise funds for his presidential campaign. The negative reaction of the Chinese leader, Biden believes, to what happened with the balloon is explained by the fact that the Chinese leader did not know about the real location of the balloon. “Dictators are very embarrassed when they are not aware of what has happened,” he said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry then protested to Washington, stating that such statements are “extremely absurd, extremely irresponsible, contradict the facts, seriously violate diplomatic etiquette, are a serious attack on China’s political dignity and an open political provocation.”

In the Kremlin considerthat such a statement by Biden a day after Blinken’s visit to Beijing speaks of the inconsistency and unpredictability of Washington’s policy. “However, that is their business. We have our own bad relations with the United States and our own very good relations with the PRC,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Blinken, on the second day of his visit to Beijing, June 19, held a 35-minute meeting with Xi Jinping. Xi praised the outcome of the meeting with the US Secretary of State. “The two sides have made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues. It’s very good,” CNN quoted the Chinese leader as saying.