WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his harsh public comments on China, including calling President Xi Jinping a dictator, saying his words would have no negative impact on U.S.-China relations and that he still expects to meet with Xi sometime soon.
Biden said his blunt statements regarding China are “just not something I'm going to change very much.”
The remarks, which drew a formal protest from China, opened a new rift just days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing that was meant as a step toward stabilizing ties and improving communications.
But Biden was undeterred.
“I expect to be meeting with President Xi sometime in the future, near-term. And I don't think it's had any real consequence,” he said.
His latest rebuff to China came on the same afternoon he welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House in an alliance-strengthening move against their shared rival, China.
Just hours earlier, China's embassy in Washington said it had delivered a formal protest, with Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng telling senior White House and State Department officials Wednesday that Washington “should take earnest actions to undo the negative impact” of what Biden said or “bear all the consequences.”
“With the latest irresponsible remarks about China's political system and its top leader, people cannot help but question the sincerity of the U.S….
