"The president speaks clearly. He speaks candidly. I’ve worked for him for more than 20 years, and he speaks for all of us," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the US press on Sunday. "It’s very clear that when it comes to China, we are going to do and say things that they don’t like. They are going to do and say things that we don’t like."
Joe Biden's notorious remark came a day after Blinken completed his tour to Beijing earlier this week. While the US secretary of state and his Chinese counterparts signaled some modest progress following the so-called "spy balloon" scandal, the US president called Chairman Xi a "dictator" while speaking at a Democratic Party fundraiser in northern California on Tuesday.
It's not the first time that Joe Biden has made harsh comments concerning the People's Republic. Since the beginning of his presidency Biden has repeatedly pledged to militarily "protect" Taiwan from China, even though the latter sees the island as its inalienable territory and used to maintain joint projects with the Taiwanese Kuomintang leaders under Xi.
On Thursday, Biden tried to defend his stance, adding that his remarks would not have any real consequence for relations between Washington and Beijing.
Previously, the State Department dismissed Biden's rough statements as "gaffes"; however, this time, Blinken backed the US president.
"There’s no secret about concerns we have about democracy, about human rights, about some of the actions that China is taking around the world, and being able to have better stronger sustained lines of communication means we can talk about these differences directly," claimed the secretary of state.
Nonetheless, Beijing has demonstrated to Washington that it considers Biden's remark as "extremely absurd and irresponsible."
"It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning earlier this week, adding that Biden's comments "go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity."
US-China relations have considerably deteriorated over the past several years as Washington has increased pressure on the People's Republic's hi-tech sector and beefed up a US-NATO military presence in Western Pacific. In addition, the Biden administration and American lawmakers have repeatedly resorted to provocations against China over Taiwan and the South China Sea. To cap it off, the Pentagon's military doctrine openly proclaims China a systemic challenge against US national security. Beijing has warned the US against provocations, urging Washington to abandon the Cold War mentality and a zero-sum game approach to foreign affairs.