The Blubber

Xi Jinping needs US capital because of mistakes at home that have hurt China’s economic growth, per Japan's US ambassador, per Bloomberg.

"President Xi is desperate for American investment because he has made a series of economic decisions and political decisions — arresting people — where capital is fleeing” for the US, Rahm Emanuel conveyed in an interview with Bloomberg Television in San Francisco on Thursday.

The meeting between Xi and Biden, their first in a year, aimed to alleviate the tension that has characterized the US-China relationship in recent years. Despite the administration's efforts to stabilize ties, figures like Emanuel and Biden persist in making pointed remarks about Xi. At the conclusion of a news conference on Wednesday, Biden referred to Xi as a “dictator.”

Emanuel highlighted the significance of Xi opting to skip a reception of APEC leaders in San Francisco in favor of a dinner where he encouraged leading US companies to invest. Emanuel noted that Xi received a standing ovation from CEOs who “literally have their R&D, their intellectual property, stolen from them.”

“I think that is a telling sign, that split screen, because I tell you who’s got strength and who’s got vulnerabilities,” said Emanuel, the famously assertive former lawmaker, White House chief of staff, and Chicago mayor turned diplomat.

Emanuel has been among the administration’s most vocal critics of China, using social media to mock the country’s high youth unemployment rate and the disappearance of several senior Chinese officials in recent months. He clarified that the White House has not instructed him to refrain from his criticism.

“Nobody’s told me to tone down,” Emanuel asserted, adding: “It wouldn’t be successful to tell me to tone down.”