Joe Biden Embarrasses Xi Jinping in Exchange About China's First Lady

President Joe Biden reportedly asked Xi Jinping to pass on birthday wishes to his wife during a high stakes meeting on Wednesday, prompting the Chinese premier to admit he'd been working so hard that he'd forgotten about the upcoming occasion.

The claim was made by a U.S. official, according to notes produced by a reporter covering Biden's activities as part of the White House press pool, and then shared with other journalists. Peng Liyuan turns 61 on November 20, the same day Biden will celebrate his 81^st birthday.

Wednesday's summit between Biden and Xi took place for several hours in a mansion near San Francisco, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, which both leaders are attending in the city.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, AFP correspondent Shaun Tandon wrote: "Biden winning with Xi's wife. From U.S. official, per pool note: 'Biden wished Xi's wife a happy birthday - (she) and Biden share the same birthday. Xi said he was embarrassed, had been working so hard and had forgotten that his wife's birthday was next week.'"

Newsweek approached the White House and the Chinese foreign ministry for comment by email.

Xi's visit comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, with the world's two largest economies having clashed repeatedly over trade, human rights, industrial espionage and territorial disputes in Taiwan and the South China Sea.

The Chinese premier has repeatedly vowed to bring about the "reunification" of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy with over 23 million citizens, with mainland China. In September 2022, Biden told CBS the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese invasion, though the White House later insisted there had been no change from America's longstanding policy of "strategic ambiguity" over the issue.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Biden said agreements had been struck to resume direct military communication between China and the U.S., which was severed after then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last year, to tackle fentanyl trafficking into America and to fight climate change.

He commented: "I believe these are some of the most constructive and productive discussions we've had. We've made some important progress."

During a business dinner speech, Xi also suggested China will send more giant pandas to the U.S., which he labeled "envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples."

The premier commented: "We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples."

It came just eight days after three pandas housed at the National Zoo in Washington began their journey back to China, meaning Atlanta Zoo is the only remaining facility in the U.S. to house the iconic animals.

However, there was some anger in Beijing after Biden repeated his earlier claim, first made in June, that Xi is a dictator. Asked if he stood by the remark the president said: "Look, he is. He's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different than ours."

Ahead of the meeting with Biden, Xi was asked whether he trusted the U.S. president by ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang, who was speaking in Mandarin. Writing on X, Wang said the Chinese leader: "Took out his translation earpiece to hear my question, looked at me, but didn't respond."