Here’s the moment Biden called Xi a dictator in an off-the-cuff remark as he was leaving a press conference.Source: Bloomberg
President Joe Biden said he still believed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was a dictator, casting a shadow over what both sides had characterized as their most productive meeting to date.
At the end of his press conference Wednesday, Biden responded to a question from a US journalist about whether he stood by a comment he made in June calling Xi a dictator. The remark was denounced at the time by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which called it “absurd” and a “provocation.”
“Well, look, he is,” Biden said. “I mean he’s a dictator in the sense that he is the guy who runs a country which is a communist country based on a form of government totally different from ours.”
The remark could undermine gains made during four hours of talks between the two leaders. Biden said the countries had come to important agreements on fighting fentanyl distribution, resuming military communications at a senior level and establishing an understanding so either leader could call the other directly to resolve any miscommunication.
“I believe they were some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had,” Biden said.
China’s Foreign Ministry criticized Biden afterward, with spokeswoman Mao Ning saying at a regular press briefing on Thursday in Beijing that “this statement is extremely incorrect and irresponsible political manipulation, and China firmly opposes it.”
Joe Biden during a press conference after meeting with Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ week in Woodside, California on Nov. 15.Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Personal Touch
Aides described the talks as warm and personal, with Biden at one point opening his iPhone to take Xi on a trip down memory lane.“Do you know this young man?” Biden asked the Chinese leader, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, who posted the exchange on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Oh yes,” said Xi, according to the post. “This was 38 years ago.”
Hua posted a photograph of the two leaders smiling and looking relaxed at the country house south of San Francisco where they met. Another image in her post showed Xi in front of the Golden Gate Bridge bridge in 1985, on his first public trip to America.
A US official said Xi also jokingly noted Biden, 80, has a birthday next week, and said it was a reminder that his own wife also had an upcoming celebration.
Upon meeting in the morning, Xi and Biden held each others hands in a warm public gesture that’s rare for the Chinese leader. They two men were later filmed taking a walk through the gardens of the estate where they held their summit.
At the press conference, Biden complimented Xi as being forthright in their talks, while stopping short of saying he trusted the Chinese leader.
“Trust but verify, as the old saying goes, that’s where I am,” Biden said.
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