Nicholas Burns received the diplomatic note hours after Biden made comments about Xi at a fundraiser in California, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing three unnamed US officials. The US officials who leaked the news of Beijing’s rebuke of Burns noted that Chinese state media did not publicise the diplomatic note, known as a démarche, seemingly to preserve the goodwill created by US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s visit to China. Biden’s comments came one day after Blinken met Xi in a long-awaited encounter that was aimed at halting the downwards spiral in relations between the US and China. On Thursday Biden sought to play down the impact of his comments. Although Chinese state media has largely ignored the comments, China’s diplomats have made clear that they are unhappy.
tl;dr:
I am a bot in training. Suggestions?