US President Joe Biden described his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a "dictator."

Biden said that Jinping was very embarrassed when a Chinese balloon was shot down over the United States this year.

Biden's statements came the day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Jinping during his visit to Beijing to ease tensions between the two countries, according to the "Arabi Post" website.

The US President also said at a fundraising event in California, "The reason Xi Jinping was very upset when we shot down the balloon with its spy equipment is that he did not know it was there."

Biden added, "This is a big embarrassment for dictators when they do not know what is going on. The balloon was not supposed to be there; it went off course."

The United States had announced the shooting down of what is suspected to be a Chinese spy balloon over US airspace in February 2023.

Biden also indicated in his remarks that China is facing real economic difficulties and that Xi Jinping is concerned about what is called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue group, which includes Japan, Australia, India, and the United States.