Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg argued Tuesday that Chinese president Xi Jinping is not a dictator because he “serves at the behest of the Politburo.”
“In terms of whether he’s a dictator, [Xi] does serve at the behest of the Politburo, their group of people,” Bloomberg said during the Democratic presidential debate in Charleston, S.C. “There’s no question he has an enormous amount of power, but he does play to his constituency. You can negotiate with him.”
The former mayor of New York City conceded that China’s human rights record is “abominable” but said in the same breath that the United States must work with China to address climate change. He also said that the United States must negotiate with the single-party state to convince it to adhere to global trade rules and stop stealing U.S. intellectual property. – READ MORE
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