Blinken stands by Biden’s “dictator” comments, but his “wincing” response at the APEC meeting becomes viral

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the US will continue to say things that China finds offensive while defending President Joe Biden’s comments in which he referred to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a “dictator” in the face of criticism from China about the White House.
Biden referred to Xi, 70, as a “dictator” in the hours after their open and fruitful conversations to rebuild bilateral relations on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco on Wednesday—the first time they had met in over a year.

But in a video that went popular on social media, Blinken seems to have cringed at Biden’s comments. It seems that he “disagreed” wholeheartedly with the US president’s assessment of Chinese officials.

President always communicates directly: Blinkered

Blinken said that the president “speaks for all of us” in response to a question about whether Biden’s remarks represented the views of the US government, according to CBS News. As stated by Blinken, “Well, it’s not exactly a secret that we have two very different systems,” according to the channel. “And the president always speaks candidly, and he speaks for all of us.” “We will continue to say things and continue to do things that China doesn’t like, just as I assume that they will continue to do and say things that we don’t like,” Blinken said on Thursday.
China has already expressed disapproval of Biden’s, 80, comment.

“It’s no surprise that – and I don’t think it will be news to anyone – that we have very different systems,” Blinken said in an NBC News interview. Furthermore, the President speaks for us and is always honest in his remarks.

However, the outcomes of our discussion yesterday are what really matter.” When questioned about it in an interview with ABC News, the senior American official responded in a similar manner. “President Biden speaks for all of us and does it with candor every time.

However, as you pointed out a minute ago, the American people benefited from this summit and meeting yesterday in a real, tangible way. Our partnership with China entails a few responsibilities that are the most important of all of our relationships. There is a true competitor for us. We want to ensure that it stays out of dispute,” Blinken said.