Biden Says Xi Was Not Informed About Spy Balloon

This was not the primary time Mr. Biden has made off-the-cuff remarks about overseas coverage throughout a night fund-raiser. At one other such occasion in New York in October, he warned donors that the world was nearer to nuclear destruction than at any time since John F. Kennedy confronted off in opposition to Nikita S. Khrushchev over Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962. “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Mr. Biden stated then, prompting a nervous response.

In California on Tuesday, Mr. Biden was addressing Democratic contributors on the dwelling of Mark Robinson, an funding banker, and his spouse, Stephanie Robinson, who has labored as a administration advisor and funding banker. In providing a wide-ranging evaluate of worldwide affairs, Mr. Biden targeted on China, which has been on his thoughts recently. He used the event to attempt to tamp down American nervousness over Beijing’s financial rise and rising assertiveness on the world stage.

“Don’t worry about China,” Mr. Biden stated. “I mean, worry about China, but don’t worry about China,” he added to laughter. “No, but I really mean it. China is real — has real economic difficulties.”

After discussing the spy balloon, the president went on to say that Mr. Xi was pissed off by Mr. Biden’s efforts to bolster the Quad, an alignment of the United States, Japan, Australia and India seen as a counterpoint to Chinese affect within the Indo-Pacific area. Mr. Biden met with the Quad leaders final month on the sidelines of the Group of seven assembly in Hiroshima, Japan.

“What he was really upset about was that I insisted that we reunite the so-called Quad,” Mr. Biden stated. “He called me and told me not to do that because it was putting him in a bind. I said, ‘All we’re doing — we’re not trying to surround you, we’re just trying to make sure the international rules with air and sea lanes remain open.’ And we’re not going to yield to that — on that.”

“So now,” he added, “we have India, Australia, Japan and the United States working hand in glove in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.”

Julian E. Barnes contributed reporting.