EDITORIAL - Joe should watch his mouth

We don’t know if US President Joseph Biden meant to say it or if it just slipped out of his mouth, but during a fundraiser in California he called China President Xi Jinping a dictator when speaking about the Chinese balloon incident over the US earlier this year.

"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 is he didn’t know it was there...That was the great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened,” Biden said.

The statement has drawn the ire of Beijing, which called his remark absurd and a provocation. Even Russia weighed in on it but we know why Moscow is so defensive.

China’s overreaction is ridiculous, of course. For all intents and purposes Xi is a dictator. He bullies his opponents and silences his critics. He has made sure he will stay in power for a long time. There is no one in China who can say no to him or speak ill of his policies without getting punished. If those aren’t the acts of a dictator we don’t know what is.

However, just because he is one doesn’t mean it had be said. You don’t tell someone they have bad breath just because they have bad breath.

Biden’s timing is also awful, what with US and China actually taking steps to defuse the rising tension between them. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken even visited China two days ago to try “strengthen high-level challenges of communication” and to explore areas where the US and China might be able to work together.

It’s not too farfetched to say Biden may have undone whatever has been achieved so far regarding improving US-China relations.

There is no doubt this gaffe will be used by Biden’s opponents in the Republican Party and even his rivals in his own Democratic Party to cast doubt on his judgment and ultimately his capability to serve as president for another term.

Biden has already provided his opponents and rivals enough ammo with his constant shows of physical weakness. He just gave them even more with what he said. He should watch his mouth.