China notes JPMorgan CEO’s “sincere reflection,” “right attitude” after apologizing for CCP joke

China’s foreign ministry on Thursday acknowledged the two public apologies made by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon after he made a joke at the CCP’s expense earlier this week.

"I noted the reports about how the individual involved has sincerely reflected. I think this is the right attitude,” said Zhao Lijian, a foreign ministry spokesman, during a daily briefing. “I hope the media involved will stop hyping the issue.”

Dimon made the joke at a Boston College panel of chief executives on Tuesday. “The Communist Party is celebrating its 100th year. So is JPMorgan. And I’ll make you a bet we last longer,” he said, recalling a recent trip to Hong Kong.

“I can’t say that in China,” Dimon added.

JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States and recently became the first full owner of a securities exchange in China over rival Goldman Sachs. It moved quickly to head off any perceived offense to China’s ruling party, which has recently cracked down on its private sector.

"I regret and should not have made that comment,” Dimon said in the statement on Wednesday. “I was trying to emphasize the strength and longevity of our company."

JPMorgan issued a second statement later that day in which Dimon said, "It's never right to joke about or denigrate any group of people, whether it's a country, its leadership, or any part of a society and culture.”

The comments have been a hot topic in China and financial circles.

Hu Xijin, outspoken CCP supporter and editor-in-chief of the Global Times, tweeted, “Think long-term! And I bet the CPC will outlast the USA.”

Think long-term! And I bet the CPC will outlast the USA. https://t.co/YFbcZQD7s3

— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) November 24, 2021

The Wall Street Journal expressed disappointment over Dimon’s capitulation in an editorial on Thursday and commented on the optics for the CCP.

“Although China’s Communist Party talks as if it’s invincible, it keeps acting like it’s not,” said the WSJ editorial board. “How else to explain this tempest over a comment by an American executive that otherwise wouldn’t have registered?”

The Journal also noted that the CCP needed JPMorgan and other foreign banks to “professionalize its markets.”