Xi Jinping is a “dictator” in the sense that he is the one who leads a “communist” country. Joe Biden said this at the end of the press conference following the face-to-face meeting with the Chinese president. Joe Biden highlighted with Chinese President Xi Jinping «the universality of human rights and the responsibility of all countries to respect international human rights commitments». The White House reports, underlining that Biden has raised his concerns about China’s human rights abuses, including those in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.
China has contested the description of US President Joe Biden as a “dictator” given to his counterpart Xi Jinping, calling it “extremely wrong”. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning noted that “this kind of talk is extremely wrong and is irresponsible political manipulation. China firmly opposes it.” On this point, “I must point out that there are always some people with ulterior motives who try to sow discord and ruin relations between China and the US, and this will also not succeed,” Mao added. Biden made her comments after the summit with Xi in San Francisco. Asked for clarification on the reference to people “attempting to sow discord and ruin relations between China and the United States”, Mao replied: “I think anyone who is trying to weaken and sow discord between China and the United States knows this.” The two presidents had their first face-to-face meeting since November 2022, amid bitter and growing tensions, agreeing on the need to restore high-level communications, including military ones frozen for about 10 months following the Chinese spy balloon affair shot down by the US after being intercepted in American airspace. The parties also agreed, among other things, to combat the trade in fentanyl, responsible for a deadly epidemic of opioid abuse in the United States, for which China is the main ingredient producer.