US President Biden’s comparison of China’s head of state Xi with a dictator caused new upsets. The US State Department has now made it clear that it intends to continue to address differences “bluntly” in the future.
After sharp criticism from Beijing of a statement by US President Joe Biden about the Chinese head of state Xi Jinping, Washington emphasized that it still wanted to address differences in the relationship with the People’s Republic.
Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear “that we want to continue to manage this relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication with the People’s Republic,” a US State Department spokesman told reporters. “But of course that doesn’t mean we won’t be blunt and forthright about our differences.” These included discrepancies in global competition between democracies and autocracies.
Biden addresses spy balloon again
Biden equated Xi with a dictator at an event with donors for his campaign in California on Tuesday. Xi was embarrassed that a Chinese spy balloon was shot down over the US. “It’s a huge embarrassment for dictators not to know what happened,” Biden said. “It (the balloon) shouldn’t go where it was.” The wind threw him off course. “And he (Xi) didn’t know anything about it,” Biden said. “When he was shot down, he was very embarrassed. He denied he was even there.”
Beijing: “China’s political dignity violated”
Beijing reacted with outrage. Such a comparison is “extremely absurd and irresponsible,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. Biden’s statements have no factual basis, violate diplomatic protocol and China’s political dignity. “It’s a blatant political provocation,” Mao said.
She also reiterated the Chinese narrative that it was a meteorology balloon that accidentally went off course.
US Secretary of State Blinken had just been to China. His trip was originally planned for February but was postponed because of the balloon incident. Now it was all about re-establishing important communication channels. However, there was no substantial approximation.
After Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the EU on the sidelines of a conference in London, the US State Department said the Group of the seven leading industrialized countries (G7) wants to stick to its current policy of close agreements with regard to China. “Noting the importance of close coordination on the People’s Republic of China, the G7 reaffirmed that the G7 are more united than ever.”