As China hits back at ‘ridiculous’ Joe Biden comments on Xi Jinping, bilateral ties too feeble to weaken further, analysts say

The US military shot down the balloon, which China said was a weather-monitoring vehicle caught up in a “force majeure accident”, on February 4 – days after it had drifted into American airspace.

The Chinese foreign ministry hit back swiftly at Biden’s remarks, calling them a “political provocation”.

“The relevant remarks by the US side are extremely ridiculous and irresponsible, they seriously violate basic facts, diplomatic protocol and China’s political dignity,” ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

Biden’s comments came just a day after Blinken’s audience with Xi in Beijing, and the same day US channel MSNBC broadcast an interview with the top American diplomat, where he said “that [balloon] chapter should be closed” as long as the incident was not repeated.

It was not immediately clear if the latest exchange would compromise the prospects of a Biden-Xi meeting at the next Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in San Francisco this November.

However, analysts said Biden’s remarks were unlikely to worsen the already poor bilateral relations.

According to Koh King Kee, founder and president of East West Bridge, an academic network of international relations scholars, little political trust remains between the two sides.

“Beijing has no fantasies about China-US relations under Biden, but is willing to keep channels of communication open and jointly build a ‘guardrail’ to avoid misjudgment by both sides that may end up in any untoward incidents,” Koh said.

China’s hopes for bilateral relations to improve over the next year were low, he added.

Biden’s comments also contrasted sharply with Xi and Blinken’s positive commitment to stabilising ties, which indicated a disconnect between the president and his administration, according to Koh.

“US officials, including the secretary of state, have often had to clarify Biden’s off-the-cuff comments,” Koh said, referring to a CBS interview in September where the US president vowed to send troops to defend Taiwan – statements that the White House later walked back.