Biden stands by comment that Xi is a 'dictator' hours after their first meeting in a year
Shortly after his first meeting with China President Xi Jinping in a year, Biden responded to a question on whether he stood by his June comment labeling Xi a dictator.
JimMin
WOODSIDE, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 15: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a news conference at the Filoli Estate on November 15, 2023 in Woodside, California. The news conference follows a meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' week, their first since meeting at the Indonesian island resort of Bali in November 2022. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Kent Nishimura | Getty Images News | Getty Images
U.S. President Joe Biden again called his Chinese counterpart a dictator — a move that could potentially unravel the progress made between the world's two leading powers.
Shortly after his first meeting with China President Xi Jinping in a year, Biden responded to a question on whether he stood by his June comment labeling Xi a dictator.
"Well, look, he is," Biden said Wednesday after the two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in San Francisco.
"He's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different than ours."
At its regular daily press conference in Beijing Thursday, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs slammed Biden's comment as "extremely incorrect and irresponsible political manipulation."
"There are always some careless individuals attempting to sow discord and damage China-U.S. relations, but their attempts will not succeed," said Mao Ning, the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson.
