On Tuesday night, at a Democratic Party event, US President Joe Biden declared his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a dictator.

Referring to the downing of the Chinese balloon deemed a spy, Biden pointed out that Jinping’s anger arose because “he didn’t know (that this device) was there.”

“It’s very embarrassing for dictators if they don’t know what happened,” Biden said at a Democratic Party reception in California, in front of reporters.

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This was no better taken by China, which finds Biden’s remark ridiculous and an “open political provocation”.

“This comment from the US side is really ridiculous, very irresponsible and does not reflect reality,” said Mao Ning, spokesman for the State Department.

It is “an overt political provocation,” added the spokesman, who was asked about that statement during a regular briefing.

Russia also criticized Biden’s comments. The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the comment reflected Washington’s “unpredictable” foreign policy.

“This is a very contradictory statement of US foreign policy,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

This discrepancy comes after the end of a visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. His meeting with Xi Jinping was hailed as a success by both countries after months of tension, despite ongoing deep differences.