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June 21 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "dictator" days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the leader in an effort to stabilize bilateral relations, drawing ire from China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a press conference Wednesday, that China "expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" to Biden's comments.
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"It is a grave disregard for basic facts, a serious breach of diplomatic protocol, a serious violation of China's political dignity and amounted to open political provocation," she said.
Ning called Biden's remark "ridiculously absurd and irresponsible."
Biden's campaign reception fundraiser remarks about shooting down the Chinese spy balloon came as U.S.-China relations are very tense.
"The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two boxcars full of spy equipment in it is he didn't know it was there. No, I'm serious. That's what's a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn't know what happened," Biden said.
Despite the "dictator" jab at Xi, Biden said "the very important point is he's in a situation now where he wants to have a relationship again."
"Tony Blinken just went over there -- our secretary of State; did a good job. And it's going to take time," he said.
Blinken's two-day China visit was the first high-level contact between China and the United States since November. He said afterward he had an important conversation with Xi and the two nations agreed on the need to stabilize their relationship.
