Joe Biden undermines his meeting with Xi Jinping by likening him to a “dictator”
Brendan Smialowski/AFP
Joe Biden speaks during a news conference after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, on November 15, 2023.
International – One little sentence too many? Despite the restoration of contacts between the two superpowers on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Summit, Joe Biden did not change his mind about the fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping was president. “dictator”He said again on Wednesday, November 15 at the end of their meeting.
After more than four hours of discussion, Joe Biden held a press conference. Responding affirmatively to a reporter’s question about whether he considered Xi a dictator, he continued: He added: “He is a dictator in the sense that this man runs a country, a communist country, based on a form of government that is completely different from our system. » He had already sparked anger in Beijing by using the term earlier this year.
“Sowing discord”
China spent Thursday calling its president, Xi Jinping, a dictator “Very wrong”. He added: “This kind of rhetoric constitutes irresponsible political manipulation. China strongly opposes this.”Once again, he strongly criticized Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning, without mentioning Joe Biden by name.
“I must stress that there are always people with ulterior motives who try to sow discord and destroy China-US relations, and this will not succeed.”, she added. When the press asked her who she meant, she replied: I think anyone who tries to undermine and sow discord between China and the United States knows this. »
The American press has already begun to wonder about the consequences of this exit by the American President. Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday presented an image of a friendly China ready to improve relations with the United States […]. However, whether or not this change will be permanent was tested by the comments Biden made at the press conference.Confirms CNN.
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed on Wednesday to restore high-level military contacts between the two countries. They also decided, among other things, that China would crack down on the production of components of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid produced with chemical compounds particularly sourced from China, and discussed the Taiwan issue. But the comparison made by Biden may put an end to this dialogue that has begun.
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