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The State Department on Wednesday clapped back at Beijing after the Chinese Foreign Ministry strongly opposed President Biden calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a "dictator."
"We won't hesitate to call out areas where we disagree or to be blunt and forthright," principal deputy spokesperson for the State Department Vedant Patel told reporters. "One of those areas that the president and the secretary have been clear about is the differences between democracies and autocracies."
Biden sparked fury Tuesday night after he called Xi a dictator and suggested the Chinese leader was "embarrassed" by the "balloon" debacle earlier this year.
President Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 14, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Speaking at a fundraiser in California, Biden said, "The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it is he didn't know it was there."
"That’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn't know what happened," he continued. "That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was."
Biden said the balloon was "blown off course" as it traveled down through the U.S.
"And he didn't know about it. When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed. He denied it was even there," Biden added.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to the comments Wednesday morning and accused Biden of a "blatant political provocation," calling his comments "absurd" and "irresponsible."
U.S. forces haul debris from China's surveillance balloon onto a boat off the coast of South Carolina. (US Fleet Forces)
"China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition," Mao said, adding that Biden’s comments "go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity."
BIDEN CALLS CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING A DICTATOR
Mao once again claimed the U.S. mishandled the wayward balloon, which China maintains was collecting meteorological data, and said, "The U.S. should have handled it in a calm and professional manner."
"However, the U.S. distorted facts and used forces to hype up the incident, fully revealing its nature of bullying and hegemony," she added.
Patel backed the president’s comments and told reporters that "it should come as no surprise that we have differences and disagreements with the [People’s Republic of China] PRC."
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands in Beijing on Monday. (AP)
The public spat comes just one day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a trip to China in an effort to improve historically low relations between Washington and Beijing.
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Patel said the U.S. would continue to engage with China through diplomatic and "responsible" means to "manage tensions and clear up misperceptions."
"That does not mean, of course, we will not be blunt and forthright about our difference," he added.
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