Biden says his comments won’t affect relationship with China

US President Joe Biden said Thursday that he hopes to meet Xi Jinping in the near future despite controversy over comments likening the Chinese leader to a dictator.

The comments “are not something I’m going to change a lot,” Biden said at a White House news conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I hope to meet with President Xi at some point in the future, in the near future. And I don’t think this has had a major consequence, ”he added.

However, China announced on Thursday that it had lodged a formal protest over Biden’s comment that referred to the Chinese leader as a “dictator.”

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed the importance of the US and China maintaining an open dialogue despite their differences.

Biden’s comment, at a campaign fundraiser on Tuesday, comes just as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was wrapping up a visit to Beijing aimed at stabilizing relations and improving communication between the two powers.

Biden called the Chinese leader a dictator, portrayed him as insensitive during the recent controversy over a Chinese spy balloon and claimed that China is having “real economic difficulties.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington announced that it lodged a formal protest and that Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng told White House and State Department officials on Wednesday that Washington “should take prompt action to reverse the negative impact” of the Chinese embassy’s statements. Biden or “suffer all the consequences.”

“With the latest irresponsible statements about the Chinese political system and its top leader, people cannot help but question the sincerity of the US side” in wanting to stabilize relations, the embassy statement said.

“The Chinese government and people do not accept any political provocation against China’s top leader and will respond emphatically,” the document added.

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