Despite China-loving President Joe Biden's regrets of shooting down the Chinese spy balloon circulating the U.S., the president and CCP leader exchanged hostile remarks.
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his "apology tour" through Chinese territory, Biden claimed Chinese President Xi Jinping got "very upset" and that it was "a great embarrassment for dictators" because the CCP leader reportedly "didn't know" the balloon was hovering over the U.S. in the first place.
"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," Biden said. "That's what's a great embarrassment for dictators when they didn't know what happened. That wasn't supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course up through Alaska and then down through the United States. And he didn't know about it. When it got shot down, he was very embarrassed. He denied it was even there."
In typical Democrat fashion, Biden expects Americans to believe that the Chinese spy balloon was merely a weather balloon that drifted off course— which cannot be accurate based on its flight pattern that hovered over or near U.S. military bases in Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Missouri.
A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said Biden's comments were "ridiculously absurd and irresponsible."
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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," the spokesperson added. "China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition."
Rest assured, Biden told the crowd that Americans shouldn't worry "about China"— coming from someone who has pocketed millions of dollars from the communist country thanks to shady business dealings.
During Blinken's trip, he met with Xi in an attempt to set up a military-to-military direct hotline but failed to get Chinese leaders on board. He then claimed the spy balloon incident was "closed."
Biden said that Blinken did "a hell of a job" in China after the secretary spent over 10 hours meeting with high-level officials, saying that the U.S. does not support the independence of Taiwan.
However, Republicans sang a different tune, claiming Blinken's "apology tour" made the U.S. look even weaker than it already is on the global stage.
"The Biden admin is giving China the green light to increase its intimidation of our ally, Taiwan," Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) said.
"Blinken flew to Communist China to appease Xi Jinping and state the Biden administration does not support Taiwan's independence,' Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wrote on Twitter. 'Why won't this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom?'
"The United States must fully, unequivocally support Taiwan's independence from the CCP's regime and show the path to peace through strength,' Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) said in a statement to DailyMail.com. "It was disappointing but unsurprising that Secretary Blinken failed to show the necessary strength in this visit."
Republicans also slammed a photo of Blinken shaking hands with Xi, depicting him as "emasculated."
A picture is worth a thousand words.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 19, 2023
Instead of projecting strength, Blinken looks emasculated. https://t.co/ypZFuXwB3u
Secretary of State Blinken in Beijing: “We do not support Taiwan independence.”
— 🇺🇸 Pamela Geller 🇺🇸 (@PamelaGeller) June 19, 2023
Owned and paid for by the CCP.
*The body language in this photo says it all.
New nickname: Bend over Blinkenhttps://t.co/3E9uIHG18a
The Blinken-Xi Jinping handshake happened against the background of historic low of the US-China relations. Blinken’s visit and meetings with top-ranking officials in China is certainly a light in the tunnel. #geopolitics #Velsig pic.twitter.com/TDoZ7V2lcQ
— Velina Tchakarova (@vtchakarova) June 19, 2023