Antony Blinken, America’s top diplomat, appeared to shake his head in annoyance as 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 reduced tensions on a number of issues.
Biden called Xi a dictator at the press conference
Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, remains diplomatically silent
However, at a subsequent press conference, Biden said he viewed Xi as a “dictator,” adding, “Look, that’s who he is.”
That sparked an angry response from Beijing, which called Biden’s comments “irresponsible.”
As Biden made the undiplomatic remarks, Blinken, sitting in the front row a few feet from the president on stage, appeared to wince.
He threw his head to the side and clasped his hands even tighter.
Biden held the news conference alone without Xi at the remote Filoli estate outside San Francisco.
The president had already called Xi a dictator in June and was asked if he still held that view.
He replied, “See, that’s him. He is a dictator in the sense that he is a man who rules a communist country based on a completely different form of government than ours.”
Earlier, Biden and Xi shook hands as the Chinese leader arrived
Xi and Biden took a stroll through the gardens together
The Chinese Foreign Ministry quickly said it “strongly disagrees” with the view expressed by Biden.
“This statement is extremely false and an irresponsible political manipulation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said.
“It should be noted that there will always be some people with ulterior motives who seek to inflame and damage U.S.-China relations. They are doomed to fail.”
Last March, Xi secured a third term as president when nearly 3,000 members of China’s National People’s Congress voted unanimously for him in an election in which there were no other candidates.
Blinken watches Biden speak as the two sides meet at a table
Biden leaves stage after calling Xi a dictator
Xi is considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong after a decade of consolidating his political and military power and restricting media freedom.
There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese delegation to the United States, which came to the United States to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
Hundreds of Beijing critics marched through downtown San Francisco on Wednesday, chanting “Free Tibet” and “Free Hong Kong.”
When Biden made a similar reference to a dictator in June, China called the remarks absurd and a provocation.