China hit back on Wednesday after President Joe Biden referred to President Xi Jinping as a “dictator,” saying the remarks were absurd and a provocation in an unexpected row following efforts by both sides to lower tensions. …

“The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it was he didn’t know it was there,” Biden said.

“That’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,” Biden said.

[Not that I think kissing Xi’s ass is a good policy, but it’s certainly the one that Biden has chosen. So why ad-lib that into a speech, especially one intended to let Xi off the hook? Who knows? God save the Queen, man, and the Beijing regime, or something. — Ed]