By Derek Cai BBC News

US President Joe Biden has called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator at a fundraiser in California.

His remarks come a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Mr Xi for talks in Beijing, which were aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers.

Mr Xi said some progress had been made in Beijing, while Mr Blinken indicated both sides were open to more talks.

China is yet to respond to Mr Biden’s comments.

President Biden, at the fundraiser on Tuesday night local time, also said Mr Xi was embarrassed over the recent tensions around a Chinese spy balloon that had been blown off course over the US.

“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,” Mr Biden said.

“That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened.”

Mr Blinken’s visit to Beijing - the first by a top US diplomat in almost five years - restarted high-level communications between the two countries. Both Mr Biden and Mr Xi hailed it as a welcome development. But Mr Blinken made clear that major differences remain between the two countries.

Washington and Beijing have long locked horns over an array of issues including trade, human rights, and Taiwan.

But relations have especially deteriorated in the past year. With the US election looming and tensions with China emerging as a political issue, some Republican senators have attacked the Biden administration for being “soft” on China.

    • PolandIsAStateOfMind
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      1 year ago

      Every now and then they produce idiocy like this for their internal usage, and then they seem to really be completely surprised when the rest of the world take note.

    • sudojonz
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      deeply unserious

      Sounds like someone has been watching Revolutionary Blackout Network ;)

      Or alternatively Nick’s phrase of choice is spreading!

  • TheGreatSpoon
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    If Xi sent the balloons it’s proof of his evil schemes. If Xi didn’t send the balloons it’s because he failed to keep his regime in line. He can’t win no matter what he does lol

      • Parenti BotB
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        The quote

        In the United States, for over a hundred years, the ruling interests tirelessly propagated anticommunism among the populace, until it became more like a religious orthodoxy than a political analysis. During the Cold War, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them. If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.

        – Michael Parenti, Blackshirts And Reds

        I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the admins of this instance if you have any questions or concerns.

    • Preston Maness ☭OP
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      I wish we had a Parenti bot. Nonfalsifiable Orthodoxy etc etc.

      During the cold war, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them.

      If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.

      ― Michael Parenti, Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism

        • Parenti BotB
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          The quote

          In the United States, for over a hundred years, the ruling interests tirelessly propagated anticommunism among the populace, until it became more like a religious orthodoxy than a political analysis. During the Cold War, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence. If the Soviets refused to negotiate a point, they were intransigent and belligerent; if they appeared willing to make concessions, this was but a skillful ploy to put us off our guard. By opposing arms limitations, they would have demonstrated their aggressive intent; but when in fact they supported most armament treaties, it was because they were mendacious and manipulative. If the churches in the USSR were empty, this demonstrated that religion was suppressed; but if the churches were full, this meant the people were rejecting the regime’s atheistic ideology. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of their alienation from the collectivist system; if they didn’t go on strike, this was because they were intimidated and lacked freedom. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the failure of the economic system; an improvement in consumer supplies meant only that the leaders were attempting to placate a restive population and so maintain a firmer hold over them. If communists in the United States played an important role struggling for the rights of workers, the poor, African-Americans, women, and others, this was only their guileful way of gathering support among disfranchised groups and gaining power for themselves. How one gained power by fighting for the rights of powerless groups was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.

          – Michael Parenti, Blackshirts And Reds

          I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the admins of this instance if you have any questions or concerns.

  • Phantasys
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    From now on, Biden should be referred to exclusively as “racist senile fuck.”

  • SovereignState
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    Washington and Beijing have not “locked horns”. The U.S. has attempted to gore China for over a century, and they’re fighting back. Language of equivocation pisses me off so much.

    • redtea
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      You see the same thing everything m every time someone stands up against the US and it was similar for anticolonial movements. The slightest resistance is seen as the greatest threat to oppressors who rely on and expect total subordination. Luckily, their day is coming and they won’t be able to bully the world for much longer.

  • ImOnADiet
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    surely having a man so old that his mental faculties have completely rotted won’t be harming foreign relations hahaha i hate it here

    • Addfwyn
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      I mean, at some point as a head of state you probably just ignore anything he says.

      • Beat_da_Rich
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        It’s amazing that liberals think this man is any less verbally unhinged than Trump in the ways that are meaningful and relevant to being a president of a country.

        • Navaryn
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          Trump at least knew of to look like he knew what he was saying. He was a decent orator and could at least entertain a crowd. Biden is seriously less articulated and coherent than some people i work with, and i am an educator specialized in polyhandicap

          • juchenecromancer
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            Biden’s just plain boring and annoying. At least Trump was kind of funny when we wasn’t propagating conspiracy theories.

      • Navaryn
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        i mean, if you look at the footage of diplomatic meetings you can see very obviously by Xi’s body language that he takes the presidents of nations like Barbados or Zambia much more seriously than people like Biden or Trudeau

  • sicaniv
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    A leader of proletariat will always feel like a dictator to the bourgeois in comparison to their puppet leader of a liberal democracy.

    • su25
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      probably also the jealousy that xi has done infinitely good more for china than biden has ever done for america and anyone outside the capitalist class

      • ColonelRevolution
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        That’s true, except I don’t think that Biden has any intention to actually do good to the American people. He may be embarassed, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying that he’s jealous.

  • Addfwyn
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    Are box cars an official term of measurement in the states now? Man, the imperial measurement systems are weird.

    “That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened.”

    Unlike Biden, President Xi is pretty aware of what is happening in and around his country. I have little doubt he knew what happened to the balloon, but I also can’t imagine he was particularly embarrassed about it. He wasn’t the one who missed shooting at a freaking balloon.

      • 201dberg
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        Now do the statistics on the F-35 program! lmao. So far all those things do is rust on the aircraft carriers and “land” in the ocean.

        • redtea
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          They don’t land near the Titanic do they? I’m just wondering whether it’s a tourism thing that we haven’t heard about.

    • Ergifruit [he/they]
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      Biden also released a statement earlier this year saying the balloon wasn’t Chinese in origin. regardless of whether it is or not, this is showing his whole ass. i mean, shitting all over a diplomatic visit is also showing your whole ass, but this is the cherry on top.

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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    I love how they spent months trying to convince China to reopen diplomatic relations, and then scuttled all the effort within 24 hours. 😂

    • Absolute
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      Biden’s response when asked about the impact of the dictator remark on US-China relations:

      “The idea of my choosing and avoiding saying what I think is the facts with regard to the relationship with … China is, is just not something I am going to change very much,”

      Like huh ? Would honestly recommend looking up the video of this one cause it’s even more baffling hearing it. Then goes on to say:

      "I don’t think it’s had any real consequence”

      How can he just decide that’s the case, wasn’t the vibe I got when the Chinese FM spokesperson described it as an “open provocation”.

      • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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        Basically if we unpack what he’s saying there is that he thinks US has leverage over China, and he thinks that he can say whatever he wants because China’s gonna have to bow down. This was the same logic that was used when Russia said that admitting Ukraine into NATO was a red line.

        • ColonelRevolution
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          Yes, this is it.

          I think that Parenti got it right in his lecture about the US war on Yugoslavia. He said that the US does not do traditional diplomacy, but issues a set of demands instead and uses violence when the other side does not obey. Then they claim that it is their fault that violence happened.

          This is arrogant barbarism tolerated only because of their economic and military dominance over the world. If any other nation acted that way, they would most likely be ridiculed and put in their place.

          • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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            Yup, and now US bit off more than they can chew in Ukraine due to sheer arrogance. Amazingly, it seems that nothing has been learned from that debacle and they’re trying to provoke China before having even finished losing to Russia. Absolutely incredible stuff.

    • ColonelRevolution
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      This circus would be hilarious if the clowns did not have nukes and the biggest military in the world following their commands.

      • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆
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        indeed, nothing like having a geriatric who doesn’t know where he is half the time hold the nuclear codes that could end human civilization

  • LarkinDePark
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    He desperately needs to save face after the public climbdown on Taiwan. This is about stymying any Republican attacks coming his way.

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    I like how he brings up the balloons after he already Admitted those balloons weren’t Chinese spy balloons earlier this year. lol

  • stasis
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    biden is mentioning the spy balloon i see