Washington DC: The Chinese foreign ministry has accused President Joe Biden of engaging in “political provocation” following his recent remarks referring to Xi Jinping as a “dictator.”
In response to a question regarding Biden’s comments, a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the government’s position that the balloon incident, which had strained bilateral relations, was merely an accidental event that the US had blown out of proportion, as reported by The New York Times.
During a news briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning described President Biden’s remarks as “utterly absurd and irresponsible,” emphasising that they constituted a serious violation of established facts, diplomatic protocol, and China’s political dignity. Mao Ning further characterised Biden’s comments as an overt political provocation.
While addressing a campaign fund-raiser in California, Biden spoke about the Chinese balloon that entered US airspace and strained ties between the two nations for months. He said that US intelligence agencies had learned about the internal confusion in Beijing during the incident. Biden called his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a ‘dictator’ who was not aware of the ‘spy balloon’ that entered the United States airspace in January, the New York Times reported.
Biden’s remark comes a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Xi Jinping in Beijing. Blinken’s visit to China in February was cancelled over the row of Chinese spy balloon.
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