Antony Blinken, America’s top diplomat, appeared to shake his head in exasperation when Joe Biden went off script and called Xi Jinping a “dictator” at the end of a carefully choreographed summit.
The four-hour meeting between Biden and Xi on Wednesday followed months of diplomatic efforts to lay the groundwork, including a trip by Blinken to Beijing.
It was the first time in over a year that the leaders of the world’s two largest economies met in person.
Both sides initially called the talks a constructive breakthrough that had reduced tensions on a wide range of issues.
Biden at the press conference where he called Xi a dictator
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, maintains a diplomatic silence
However, at a subsequent press conference, Biden said he considered Xi a “dictator,” adding, “Look, that’s what he is.”
That provoked a furious response from Beijing, which called Biden’s comments “irresponsible.”
As Biden made the undiplomatic remarks, Blinken, who sat in the front row a few feet away from the president on stage, appeared to back away.
He pulled his head to the side and clutched his hands even tighter.
Biden held the press conference alone without Xi at the remote Filoli estate outside San Francisco.
The president had previously called Xi a dictator in June and was asked whether he still held that view.
He replied, “Look, that’s him. He is a dictator in the sense that he is a man who runs a country that is a communist country and is based on a form of government that is completely different from ours.”
Earlier, Biden and Xi shook hands when the Chinese leader arrived
Xi and Biden took a walk through the gardens together
China’s Foreign Ministry quickly said it “strongly opposes” Biden’s views.
“This statement is extremely wrong and irresponsible political manipulation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said.
“It should be pointed out that there will always be those with ulterior motives who seek to inflame and damage US-China relations; they are doomed to failure.”
Last March, Xi won a third term as president when nearly 3,000 members of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, voted unanimously for him in an election in which there was no other candidate.
Blinken watches Biden speak as the two sides meet at a table
Biden leaves the stage after calling Xi a dictator
Xi is considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, after a decade of consolidating power in policymaking and the military, and suppressing media freedoms.
There was no immediate response from the Chinese delegation in the US, which had come to the United States to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
Hundreds of Beijing’s critics marched through downtown San Francisco on Wednesday chanting “Free Tibet” and “Free Hong Kong.”
When Biden made a similar dictator reference in June, China called the comments absurd and a provocation.