China knocks Biden for apologizing for US on world stage, president hits Xi for no show
China is mocking President Biden for his performance at last week's international climate summit in Scotland, in which he apologized for the previous Trump administration's efforts on trying to reach a global climate accord.
"I guess I shouldn't apologize, but I do apologize for the fact that the United States under the last administration pulled out of the Paris agreement. That kind of put us behind the eight ball a bit," Biden said Oct. 1 at the Glasgow summit, at which he also was criticized for appearing to have dozed off during a presentation.
The Beijing-backed news outlet the Global Times published a piece the following day that appeared to mockingly describe Biden's apology as "noble" and suggested that some Americans are eagerly awaiting 2024 "when the Republican Party, or even Donald Trump himself, apologizes for Biden's apology," according to Fox News.
Chinese state media also reportedly called Biden "hypocritical and powerless" apparently, or at least in part, over his inability to get fellow Washington Democrats to agree to his climate change spending bill.
Trump also criticized Biden.
"We have never been thought of so poorly as we are right now, including the fact that the leaders of foreign countries, all of whom are at the top of their game, are laughing at Biden as he makes the rounds in Europe," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Biden has criticized China leader Xi Jinping and Russia President Vladimir Putin for not attending the Glasgow summit.
The president said Tuesday climate was "a gigantic issue" and that China had "walked away."
"Same thing with Russia and Putin," Biden also said.
China is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by the US. Russia is the fifth largest after the EU and India, according to the BBC.