US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday.
Washington:
The White House said on Wednesday it was “very hopeful” that a top US diplomat’s recent visit to Beijing would lead to better ties, even as Joe Biden compared China’s leader to “dictators”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has “made some progress” during his long-awaited visit to China, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
“We fully expect to build on that progress,” the official said.
Blinken’s trip, which concluded on Monday, was meant to re-establish lines of communication as tensions escalated between Taiwan and the two world powers over an incident involving a Chinese balloon in February, which Washington believed he was spying on the United States.
But China on Wednesday condemned Biden’s remarks comparing Chinese leader Xi Jinping to “dictators”.
Beijing called the statement, which was made by Biden at a fundraiser in California on Tuesday, “an open political provocation.”
The White House later sought to defuse tensions.
“It should come as no surprise that the president talks candidly about China and our differences — we’re certainly not alone in this,” the official said later Wednesday.
“The president believes that diplomacy, including the diplomacy pursued by Secretary Blinken, is a responsible way to manage tensions,” the official said.
Tuesday was not the first time Biden made important, even provocative, statements at fundraising receptions – usually small-scale events in which cameras and recordings are banned, but where reporters could hear the president’s opening remarks. and can transcribe them.
At one such event last October, Biden spoke of the threat of nuclear “Armageddon” from Russia.
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