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Sylvia Ma

Social media users were quick to pile on to US President Joe Biden after he compounded his reputation for gaffes by confusing a long-dead Chinese leader for the incumbent.
Biden made the slip while promoting his economic policy on a stop at a wind tower manufacturer in Colorado late last month, according to footage posted online.
“I’ve said this to Deng Xiaoping in the Himalayas, and I’ve said this to every world leader: It’s never, never, never been a good bet to bet against the American people,” Biden said.
Deng, China’s paramount leader throughout the 1980s, died more than 2½ decades ago and the reference was meant to be Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The White House transcript of Biden’s remarks was later changed to refer to Xi.
But not before users on X, formerly known as Twitter, reposted clips of the speech and left teasing comments about the 81-year-old US leader.

A handful of posts about Biden’s gaffe also appeared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, where the censorship is tight. One post attracted more than 100 comments.
“His staff must be scared to death,” one user said, suggesting Biden’s team would be worried about damage to the US president’s election campaign.
“There is still a generation between [Biden and Deng]. How could they chat in the Himalayas?” another wrote.
Also corrected in the White House transcript was a mistaken reference to former South Korean president Moon Jae-in instead of his successor Yoon Suk-yeol.
Consensus no more? Democrats start to split from Republicans on China policy
Biden did meet Deng when he was at China’s helm. Biden was a senator in April 1979 when he went to China as part of the first US congressional delegation to the country since the founding of the People’s Republic.
Biden has also frequently mentioned his conversations with Xi, saying they have met many times and he has known the Chinese leader well since both of them were vice-presidents.
“I’ve long said – and I mean this – I was on the Tibetan Plateau with Xi Jinping. I travelled 17,000 miles with him,” the US president said in a speech in Chicago in June.
“I’ve spoken with him more than any other head of state because it started when I was vice-president and president Hu [Jintao] was the president, and he was the vice-president.”


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US-China relations

Oops. Joe Biden mixes up Chinese leaders, refers to Deng Xiaoping instead of Xi Jinping

The slip-up by US President Joe Biden did not go unnoticed online. Photo: X/ @DrLoupis

Former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping died in 1997. Photo: AFP

Consensus no more? Following Biden, Democrats start to split from Republicans on China policy

Illustration: Marcelo Duhalde

Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (right) and Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House select committee on China. Photo: Getty Images

Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democratic of Maryland, said that while it was important to reduce dependency on China in strategic sectors, he was firmly against decoupling. Photo: Getty Images

Representative Patrick McHenry, Republican of North Carolina, chairs the House Financial Services Committee. Photo: TNS

Henry Kissinger: China pays highest tribute as President Xi Jinping sends condolences on passing of ‘old friend’

Robert Daly, pictured interpreting for Henry Kissinger and Jiang Zemin in 1997, said Kissinger was “one of the last giants”. Photo: Supplied by Robert Daly

US Special envoy Henry Kissinger meets China’s Prime Minister Zhou Enlai in Beijing in July 1971.

Members of the US delegation pose with hosts on the Great Wall of China on October 22, 1971. US national security adviser Henry Kissinger is front left, standing with China’s acting foreign minister Ji Pengfei. Photo: White House via CNP/Getty Images

US-China relationship increasingly driven by domestic concerns in both nations, analyst says

Chinese President Xi Jinping with US President Joe Biden in Woodside, California, on November 15. A China analyst has found that domestic concerns in both countries may make it harder for them to coordinate and cooperate. Photo: Reuters

From left, Elizabeth Economy, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; Evan Medeiros, the report’s author; and Liza Tobin of the Special Competitive Studies Project. Photo: Asia Society 

Chinese media send unified message highlighting leader’s ‘warm welcome’ in US in Xi-Biden summit coverage

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and US President Joe Biden stroll through the gardens at the Filoli estate in Woodside, California on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Xi Jinping poses in front of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in 1985, when he was Communist Party chief of Zhengding county in northern China’s Hebei province. Photo: Xinhua

News

China

Diplomacy

Biden makes the slip-up during an event to promote his economic agenda
The White House corrects the record but social media users still take a moment to tease the American leader


The White House corrects the record but social media users still take a moment to tease the American leader.


Oops. Joe Biden mixes up Chinese leaders, refers to Deng Xiaoping instead of Xi Jinping

Biden makes the slip-up during an event to promote his economic agenda The White House corrects the record but social media users still take a moment to tease the American leader

Biden makes the slip-up during an event to promote his economic agenda

The White House corrects the record but social media users still take a moment to tease the American leader