Biden Calls Xi Jinping a "Dictator": China-U.S. Relations and a Growing Multipolar World

Officials in Beijing have denounced U.S. President Joe Biden for describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator,” calling it a breach of diplomatic protocol. Biden’s remark at a fundraising event this week came just days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China to help thaw relations at a time of growing competition and suspicion between the two superpowers. “What Biden said, in fact, is true in every word,” says Ho-fung Hung, professor of political economy and sociology at Johns Hopkins University, though he adds that China’s response is also expected, as Biden’s comments are a “violation of diplomatic protocol.”