China slams Biden for calling Xi Jinping a dictator, says it's 'extremely wrong'

After US President Joe Biden called his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a “dictator” after the two wrapped up a summit in California, China condemned the American president’s comment, saying it was “extremely wrong.”

“This kind of speech is extremely wrong and is irresponsible political manipulation. China firmly opposes it,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

“I need to point out that there are always some people with ulterior motives attempting to sow discord and wreck China-US relations, and this too will not succeed,” she added.

Biden and Xi agreed at their first summit in a year on Wednesday to restore military communications between the two countries.

They also agreed, among other things, that China would crack down on the production of ingredients for fentanyl, responsible for a deadly epidemic of opioid abuse in the United States.

During their meeting, Jinping warned Biden to stop arming Taiwan adding that China’s reunification with the island nation was “unstoppable.”

“The US side should… stop arming Taiwan, and support China’s peaceful reunification,” Xi told Biden during a summit in San Francisco, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.

After his meeting with Xi on Wednesday, Biden told journalists he still considers the Chinese president a “dictator”.

He had sparked fury from Beijing by making the comparison earlier this year.

“Well look he is, I mean he’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who’s running a country, a Communist country, that’s based on a form of government totally different than ours,” Biden said.

With inputs from AFP