US President Joe Biden on Wednesday (US local time) referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a ‘dictator’.
Biden’s remark, at the end of his meeting with Jinping, came after he was asked if he still considers Xi a ‘dictator’.
“Well, look, he is,” Biden said.
“He is a dictator in the sense that he is a guy who runs a country that is communist,” Biden said, adding that the Chinese government “is totally different than ours.”
Meanwhile, the US-China Summit meeting concluded at a sprawling mansion in California with Presidents Biden and Jinping agreeing to work towards ensuring that the differences between the two countries remain manageable and the relations do not derail.
The discussions, according to a senior administration official, were open, frank, and candid. Biden was able to convey his views and concerns directly to Xi, who is understood to have responded with his own set of arguments, news agency PTI reported.
During the meeting, the two leaders were able to discuss a host of issues including bilateral ties, regional and key global issues like Iran, the Middle East, Ukraine, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, economic issues, artificial intelligence, drugs, and climate change.
Following the meeting, China agreed to act against companies that engage in illegal drug trade in the US, according to a senior administration official.
The two leaders also agreed on the resumption of military-to-military level talks with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart taking the lead, while the PACIFIC Commander has operational-level engagement with his counterparts in China, he said.
The two leaders also agreed to ‘pick each other’s calls’.
“We should pick up the phone and call one another and we’ll take the call. That’s important progress,” Biden said at a news conference following the talks.