JAKARTA - China criticized the label dictator given by US President Joe Biden to President Xi Jinping, saying it made no sense and provocation, amid efforts to lower tensions that have recently taken place between the two countries.
President Biden's comments came just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing, to stabilize bilateral relations that China says are at their lowest point since formal relations broke out.
Attending a fundraiser in California, President Biden said President Xi was deeply embarrassed when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was flown over US airspace earlier this year, making personal comments about the Chinese leader when Blinken said on Monday the matter should be closed.
"The reason Xi Jinping got so upset when I shot the balloon down, with two box cars full of spy equipment inside was that he didn't know it was there," President Biden said.
"It is very embarrassing for dictators. When they don't know what happened. That shouldn't have happened," added President Biden.
In response, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said President Biden's statement was "very unreasonable" and "irresponsible".
Expressing China's strong discontent, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said President Biden's comments violated China's facts, diplomatic protocols and political dignity.
"It is an open political provocation," he told a news conference.
Asked how conscious President Xi was about balloon movement, Mao repeated China's previous explanation, the passing of balloons through US airspace was unintentional and was caused by circumstances beyond its control.
"Biden's big mouth is a loose cannon," said Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.
"Believed at the same time is what China emphasized, so Biden's comments are very damaging and destructive," Wu continued, adding the statement may not completely cancel what Blinken had achieved during his visit to China.
Foreign Minister Blinken and President Xi agreed at Monday's meeting to stabilize the fierce competition between Washington and Beijing so as not to lead to conflict.
Separately, speaking from Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Biden's comments contradicted his foreign minister's efforts to defuse tensions with Beijing, describing the statement as "ununderstood".
"This is a very contradictory manifestation of US foreign policy, which talks about a large unpredictable element," Peskov said on Wednesday.
"However, that's their business. We have our own bad relationship with the United States and our excellent relationship with the People's Republic of China," he said.
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