China rips Biden description of Xi as dictator as ‘extremely absurd and irresponsible’

Beijing on Wednesday bashed President Biden’s description of China’s President Xi Jinping as a dictator during remarks to donors as “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”

At a fundraising event Tuesday in California, Biden discussed the incident earlier this year when the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that floated over the country, which heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing. 

“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. No, I’m serious. That was the great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened,” Biden said in California. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning later said Biden’s comments “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”

“It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition. … The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible,” Mao added.

The comments from Biden and Mao come in the wake of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing earlier this week. Blinken planned an initial trip for February, but it was postponed amid the surveillance balloon incident. Blinken met with Xi and other officials, including Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in a high-stakes trip aimed at stabilizing the tense relationship between the world powers.

Biden told donors in California his secretary of State “did a good job” during the trip, adding that “it’s going to take time” to improve relations.

On Saturday, Biden said the Chinese spy balloon situation was “more embarrassing than it was intentional” for Beijing.

The Associated Press contributed.