China calls Biden's Xi dictator comments 'extremely wrong'
US President Joe Biden (left) hailed 'constructive and productive' talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in California (Photo: AFP/Brendan Smialowski)
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BEIJING: China condemned on Thursday (Nov 16) US President Joe Biden's description of Xi Jinping as a dictator as "extremely wrong", after the two leaders wrapped up a summit in California.
Asked about Biden's remarks, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said: "This kind of speech is extremely wrong and is irresponsible political manipulation. China firmly opposes it."
"I need to point out that there are always some people with ulterior motives attempting to sow discord and wreck China-US relations, and this too will not succeed," she added.
Asked to clarify who she was referring to, Mao demurred, saying: "I think whoever is trying to undermine and sow discord between China and the United States knows it."
Biden and Xi agreed at their first summit in a year on Wednesday to restore military communications between the two countries.
They also agreed, among other things, that China would crack down on the production of ingredients for fentanyl, responsible for a deadly epidemic of opioid abuse in the United States.
But speaking after his meeting with Xi on Wednesday, Biden told journalists he still considers the Chinese president a "dictator".
He had sparked fury from Beijing by making the comparison earlier this year.
"Well look he is, I mean he's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who's running a country, a communist country, that's based on a form of government totally different than ours," Biden said.
On whether the off-the-cuff remark could trigger a new diplomatic backlash, Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian from the Department of Political Science at the National University of Singapore said that while there may some unhappiness on Beijing's part, it would serve as a test of how much China wants to improve ties with the US.
"This is what politicians do, they sometimes will say things, and they disagree with things, but if they want to, they can probably move past it. So again, it's something to watch, because I think it's a useful test to see how much Beijing is willing to weather," he told CNA's Asia First on Friday.
