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An icy relationship with China is warming up, but maybe not in the way President Joe Biden hoped when he sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the People’s Republic last week.

That trip was meant to stabilize relations, but President Biden caused an uproar two days later when he called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator.” China called the remark absurd and irresponsible.

But now Blinken is defending that comment, or at least he’s refusing to walk it back.

When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash if that comment was a mistake, Blinken instead pointed to policy differences between the two countries. He says this includes human rights concerns.

Meanwhile, Biden says he doesn’t believe his comment will cause a setback in diplomacy.