Biden calls Xi Jinping a 'dictator' during California event escalating tensions between U.S. and China

President Biden on Tuesday called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator, days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Xi to discuss the easing of tensions between the two countries. 

During a fundraising event in California, Biden said  Xi was embarrassed that the alleged spy balloon found earlier this year flying over U.S. airspace was shot down by U.S. airplanes. 

"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 in it, was he didn't know it was there," Biden said.

"That's a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn't know what happened. That wasn't supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course," he added. 

China responded by saying it “firmly opposes” Biden’s comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called the comments “extremely absurd” and “irresponsible,” adding that they were “an open political provocation.”

“The remarks seriously contradict basic facts, seriously violate diplomatic etiquette, and seriously infringe on China’s political dignity,” Ning added.

While Biden had previously referred to China as “essentially” a dictatorship, Tuesday’s comments mark the first time the U.S. president directly calls the Chinese leader a dictator. 

Biden’s comment comes a day after Blinken visited China and met with Xi Jinping in an effort to stabilize the relationship between the two countries as tensions continue to rise.  

During the meeting, two men stressed the importance of maintaining a stable relationship between the world’s two largest economies. Despite not reaching any major agreement during the talk, the two parties said they hoped the meeting could pave the way for more bilateral meetings.