TORONTO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping chastised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Wednesday’s G-20 summit for leaking details of a previous meeting in which Trudeau expressed concern about Chinese interference. in internal affairs.
The two had a brief encounter at an event in Indonesia that the media was able to record. A television camera was behind a prominent Chinese interpreter as the two spoke.
“Everything we discussed was disclosed in the newspaper; it is not appropriate,” Xi told Trudeau through the interpreter. “And that’s not…the way the conversation was conducted, if there’s any sincerity on your part,” Xi said, at which point Trudeau cut him off and walked over to Xi.
“In Canada, we believe in free, open and frank dialogue and that’s what we will continue to have,” Trudeau said. “We will continue to seek to work together constructively, but there will be things we disagree on.”
Xi looked around as Trudeau responded.
“Let’s create the conditions first,” Xi replied through the interpreter.
The two shook hands after the brief encounter.
Trudeau spoke with Xi for the first time at the G-20 last Tuesday. A senior Canadian government official said the two spoke about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korea and climate change, and that Trudeau also raised “our serious concerns about interference activities in Canada”. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Asked at a press conference later about the confrontation, Trudeau said “not every conversation will always be easy, but it’s extremely important that we continue to stand up for the things that are important to Canadians.”
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly also said she discussed Chinese interference with her Chinese counterpart at the G-20.
Joly noted last week that China is an increasingly disruptive global power and warned companies against deepening ties, saying there were “geopolitical risks”.
Canadian police on Monday charged a Hydro-Quebec employee with espionage for allegedly sending trade secrets to China. And Beijing’s ties with Ottawa crumbled after Canadian authorities arrested a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei on charges of fraud by the United States.
China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies and daughter of the company’s founder, on a US extradition request. They were returned to Canada last year, the same day Meng returned to China after reaching a settlement with US authorities in her case.
Many countries called China’s action a “hostage policy,” while China described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to curb China’s economic and technological development.
Canada has banned mobile carriers from installing Huawei equipment in its high-speed 5G networks, joining allies in avoiding the company which has close ties to the ruling Communist Party and its military wing. People’s Liberation Army.
Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s former ambassador to China, said he believed Xi deliberately berated Trudeau on camera.
“When you look at him, he has a red face, he moves his arms,” Saint-Jacques said. “He looks restless. Clearly, he was not happy that Trudeau leaked the details of the meeting. Interesting, he said that was not how the meeting went.
Saint-Jacques also noted that Xi’s translation was interrupted by Trudeau and that Xi looked annoyed by this.
“The prime minister wanted to respond and probably knew he wouldn’t have time, that after Xi delivered his tirade he would leave,” Saint-Jacques said. “It’s clear that Xi doesn’t have much regard for the prime minister. This shows that it will be very difficult to re-establish a limited dialogue with China.
Saint-Jacques said Xi probably wanted to send a message to Trudeau that Canada would not dictate the terms of the relationship and that Trudeau better heed it.
The former ambassador said it was like Xi saying, “You have to be smart if you want to maintain any kind of relationship with us.”
“It’s very unusual to see Xi Jinping engage in this kind of public exercise to criticize someone,” Saint-Jacques added.
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This story has been edited to correct a word in the penultimate paragraph to “ambassador” instead of “minister”.
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