"China expresses acute discontent and strong protest," Mao told reporters, noting that Biden's remarks are "extremely absurd, extremely irresponsible, contradict the facts, seriously violate diplomatic etiquette, [and] are a serious infringement on China's political dignity and an open political provocation," Sputnik reported.
US President Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator, a day after top US diplomat Antony Blinken visited Beijing to stabilize bilateral ties that China says are at their lowest point since formal ties were established.
During his address to his supporters in California on Tuesday, the US president said that Xi did not have all the information about the incident with the balloon earlier this year, adding that this was "a great embarrassment for dictators."
In February, the United States detected and later shot down four unidentified flying objects, including a Chinese surveillance balloon. Washington alleged that it was designed to gather intelligence about sensitive military sites in the country. Beijing insisted that the balloon was a mere meteorological device that entered the US airspace accidentally while expressing protest over Pentagon's decision to shoot it down.
MP/PR
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