Former Secretary of State John Kerry refused Thursday to call Chinese president Xi Jinping a “dictator,” arguing instead that President Joe Biden has a “very good relationship” with him.
Biden recently doubled down on his assertion that Xi is a “dictator.” Biden said Xi was “very upset” about the shooting down of the Chinese spy balloon and that it was a “great embarrassment for dictators” because the Chinese leader didn’t know the balloon was there.
Testifying on the state department’s climate agenda budget, Kerry was asked if Xi is a dictator.
“Is he in fact effectively a dictator?” Republican California Rep. Darrell Issa asked.
“I don’t think it’s useful to get into. I don’t, I’m not gonna get into–”
“But he does wield the power of a –” Issa said before Kerry interjected.
“He wields enormous power as the leader of China absolutely and- and everybody understands that. But, I don’t like–”
“Do you wish the president had used another word?” Issa asked. (RELATED: ‘Open Political Provocation’: Biden Trades Blows With China After ‘Dictators’ Comment)
“No I don’t. Frankly, all of that is like water off a duck’s back, and I don’t think we ought to get tangled up in labels and names, and whatever. What we oughta do is look at the heart of what we’re trying to do. Present Biden actually has very good relationship with President Xi and President Xi vice versa. I think he honors the relationship he has with with President Biden, and I and I think in Secretary Blinken’s visit to China and subsequently Janet Yellen’s visit with China, where you saw in her own statements publicly and assessments, there was frank conversation, but the effort is well underway now to try to stabilize and avoid conflict by virtue of unforeseen consequences or mistakes.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded to Biden’s “dictator” comment, calling it a “grave disregard for basic facts, a serious breach of diplomatic protocol, a serious violation of China’s political dignity” and alleged it “amounted to open political provocation.”