June 21,2023:China has called reported comments by Biden “extremely absurd and irresponsible”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday that Biden’s comments “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity”.
US President Joe Biden has likened his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to a dictator, just a day after his top diplomat left Beijing following a visit designed to ease the two countries’ strained ties.
Speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in northern California on Tuesday, Biden said Xi had been angered over an incident in February when a Chinese balloon – which Washington says was used for spying – flew over the United States before it was eventually shot down.
“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment is he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said.
