Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday scolded Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau like a child. The Canadian Democrat appeared to just take Xi’s criticism. The interaction was following an alleged media leak in Canada that shared details about a conversation the two had in private on Tuesday.
“Everything we discussed has been leaked to the paper. That’s not appropriate,” Xi told Trudeau at the G20 leader’s summit in Bali, according to a video of the discussion. “And that’s not the way the conversation was conducted…if there is sincerity on your part…we would conduct good communications in a mutually respectful manner. Otherwise, the results would be hard to tell.”
Canadian media reported that Xi and Trudeau spoke on Tuesday, at which point the Canadian prime minister raised “serious concerns” about China’s alleged interference in Canadian affairs.
Trudeau sputtered in his reply to Xi on Wednesday saying, “In Canada, we believe in a free and open and frank dialogue. We will continue to have…We will continue to work constructively together but there will be things that we will disagree on.”
“Let’s create the conditions first,” Xi replied.
Xi then took the Prime Minster’s hand and ended the conversation before Trudeau could catch his breath and respond. As Xi walked away the camera caught Trudeau rushing out of the room completely after the exchange.
It wasn’t a good look…
Watch
The Cdn Pool cam captured a tough talk between Chinese President Xi & PM Trudeau at the G20 today. In it, Xi express his displeasure that everything discussed yesterday “has been leaked to the paper(s), that’s not appropriate… & that’s not the way the conversation was conducted” pic.twitter.com/Hres3vwf4Q
— Annie Bergeron-Oliver (@AnnieClaireBO) November 16, 2022
World leaders met for the G20 summit this week and Trudeau’s interaction with the Chinese president has to be the weakest display of leadership I have seen so far. Considering the US has Biden at the helm, that’s saying a lot.
According to National Review, Beijing and Ottawa have had an icy relationship since Canada arrested a senior executive of China’s Huawei Technologies, Meng Wanzhou, in 2018 on behalf of the U.S. China later imprisoned two Canadians on spying charges. All three were released last year.
Trudeau would later go on to tell reporters that he defended his country’s ‘interests’ during his conversation with the president of China.
Erica Carlin is an independent journalist, opinion writer and contributor to several news and opinion sources. She is based in Georgia.