“They’ve got a population that is more people in retirement than working. They’re not importing anything. They’re xenophobic — nobody else coming in. They’ve got real problems,” Biden said of China in remarks to steel workers in Pittsburgh.
The president’s comments follow a phone call two weeks ago with Chinese President Xi Jinping, their first since a face-to-face meeting in November. While overall relations have stabilized of late, tensions are growing over Chinese investments in manufacturing that risk leading to job losses among blue-collar workers.