President Joe Biden said his remarks referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator haven’t undermined efforts to shore up strained relations between the world’s two largest economies.
“I expect to be meeting with President Xi sometime in the future, the near term and I don’t think it’s had any real consequence,” Biden said in a joint press conference on Thursday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
Biden made the off-the-cuff remark about Xi at a donor event on Tuesday, saying the Chinese leader was embarrassed by his military sending an alleged spy balloon across the US without his knowledge.
“That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened,” said Biden.
