The American president estimated Wednesday evening that his Chinese counterpart had in particular “an economy which does not work very well”.
Joe Biden estimated on Wednesday February 8 that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was meeting “huge problems” especially in economic terms. “Find me a single world leader willing to trade places with Xi Jinping…I can’t find one,” asserted the American president during an interview with the PBS channel. “This man has huge problems”notably “an economy that does not work very well”he judged, noting however that the Chinese leader “also had a lot of potential”.
“Look what happened to Russia”
Noting that Chinese support for Russia had been relatively muted, Joe Biden pointed out that, contrary to what “everyone assumed” at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Beijing was not “fully” engaged behind Moscow. A reservation, according to him, linked to Xi Jinping’s desire not to suffer the same fate as Russia, which has in particular been subject to harsh economic sanctions imposed by the West.
I called him this summer to say, “It’s not a threat, just an observation: look what happened to Russia”
Joe Biden on Xi Jinping
“I called him this summer to tell him, “It’s not a threat, just an observation: look at what happened to Russia,” Joe Biden said on Wednesday. The White House tenant met Xi Jinping in person for the first time in his term as president in November, at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. They had already spoken by telephone or videoconference five times.
The head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, last week canceled a planned visit to Beijing, after the entry into the airspace of the United States of a Chinese balloon, since shot down by the American army.
Comments “totally irresponsible”
In reaction, this Thursday, February 9, China deplored the comments “totally irresponsibleof the American president. “These remarks (…) are totally irresponsible and violate the basic rules of diplomatic etiquettesaid Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition“, she underlined during a regular press conference.
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