Joe Biden, after a meeting with Xi Jinping in California, affirmed on Wednesday November 15 that he still considered the latter to be a “dictator”, using an expression which has in the past aroused the indignation of Beijing. “He is a dictator in the sense that here is a man who runs a country, a communist country, which is based on a form of government totally different from ours,” he said during a press conference.
A description that China deemed “extremely erroneous”, calling it “political manipulation”, following the summit between the two leaders on Thursday November 16. “This type of rhetoric is extremely wrong and constitutes irresponsible political manipulation. China firmly opposes it,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.