CNN
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The White House confirmed on Friday that US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns had been given an official diplomatic reprimand, known as a departure, following President Joe Biden’s comments comparing China’s Xi Jinping with a dictator at a political fundraiser in California earlier this week.
The Chinese government summoned Burns to this week’s meeting in Beijing to protest Biden’s remarks, according to two US officials familiar with the matter. Beijing’s move comes as officials are still assessing the potential effect of Biden’s comments on U.S. efforts to repair the fractured relationship between the two countries.
While confirming the development and declining to provide details, National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby stressed that the White House does not consider the move to have particularly significant consequences and that the United States does not they have seen more ramifications in the already precarious. relationship with China.
“If the initiative issued by nations against other nations was some kind of key to whether a relationship was collapsing or, or in danger. I mean, goodness, I mean goodness, Jeremy, a march is a march that it happens all the time. I’m not going to get into the details. I’m not going to get into the details of this one,” Kirby said in a back-and-forth exchange with CNN’s Jeremy Diamond.
The walkout came as the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Washington issued statements condemning Biden’s remarks, which came just hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his first trip to Beijing as top American diplomat.
Biden played down the impact of his leaked remarks on Thursday, although China has warned there will be “consequences” with the Chinese embassy in the US describing it as “slander”.
“I don’t think it’s had any real consequences,” Biden told reporters Thursday.
Kirby, speaking from the White House press room on Friday, reiterated that Biden is “firm” that the relationship with China “matters” and that “we have to move forward.” He added that Biden made the claim because he “believes it.”
“We’re still in communication with the PRC to move that relationship forward. That’s what we’re focused on. And every indication we’re getting is that that’s what the PRC wants to focus on as well,” Kirby said Friday.
Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said earlier in the week that the remarks had “in no way detracted” from the progress in US-China relations that Blinken made during the visit.
But US officials privately expressed frustration with Biden’s comments. They worry that the momentum of Blinken’s visit will be derailed, officials said. They believe that the true effect of these comments is unclear.
While in China, Blinken said senior US officials will visit the country in the coming weeks. US officials are watching to see if the Chinese move forward with plans for such visits, although they note that the Chinese have made it clear they want to engage with the US on economic and trade issues.
They are also looking at how China is engaging with the US to address the issue of fentanyl, after the two countries agreed during Blinken’s visit to explore the creation of a working group on the transnational challenge during Blinken’s visit. They acknowledged that the Justice Department’s moves on Friday to bring charges against four China-based chemical companies and eight Chinese nationals for trafficking fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States may also cause frustration in China.
The White House and State Department did not attempt to retract Biden’s comments.
“We’re not shy about being outspoken about some of the concerns and issues we have with the PRC and the challenges they pose, and the president is very forthright in the way he addresses those challenges and the complicated nature of this relationship.” . Kirby said Friday.
The Chinese government did not publicly announce Burns’ departure, which was the first reported by the Wall Street Journal. US officials noted that China is currently celebrating a public holiday and are watching closely to see what happens next week.
