Chinese President Xi Jinping
criticised Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
in person over alleged leaks of their closed-door meeting at the
G20 summit, a rare public display of annoyance by the Chinese
leader.
In video footage published by Canadian broadcasters on Wednesday, Xi and
Trudeau can be seen standing close to each other and conversing
via a translator at the summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
“That is not appropriate, and we didn’t do it that way,” Xi
said in Mandarin, smiling.
“If there is sincerity, we can communicate well with mutual
respect, otherwise the outcome will not be easy to tell.”
His displeasure was likely a reference to media reports that
Trudeau brought up “serious concerns” about alleged espionage
and Chinese “interference” in Canadian elections when meeting
with Xi on Tuesday, his first talks with the Chinese leader in
more than three years.
A translator for Xi can be heard in the video telling
Trudeau that “everything we discussed was leaked to the
paper(s), that’s not appropriate.”
Trudeau responds to Xi’s initial criticism by saying, “In
Canada we believe in free and open and frank dialogue and that
is what we will continue to have, we will continue to look to
work constructively together but there will be things we
disagree on.”
Before he finished speaking, however, Xi, cuts him off and says, “Create the conditions,
create the conditions, OK?” before smiling, shaking Trudeau’s
hand and walking off.
Neither the Chinese foreign ministry nor state media have
published anything on talks between Xi and Trudeau.
The two held
a 10-minute informal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit
on Tuesday, according to a government source.
Xi has held nine
formal bilateral meetings with other heads of state while at the
summit, according to the Chinese foreign ministry website.
Canada never released an official readout from the meeting,
but Trudeau did confirm the conversation and the points that he
made to Xi at a news conference at the end of the G20.
“Canada trusts its citizens with information about the
conversations that we have in their name as a government,”
Trudeau said according to a transcript of the news conference.
Trudeau added not all conversations with leaders were going
to be easy, but pointed out that “systems” in the two countries
are different.
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Canada-China tensions
The short but revealing Xi-Trudeau exchange highlighted
tensions between China and Canada, running high since the
detention of China’s Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou
in 2018 and Beijing’s subsequent arrest of two Canadians on
spying charges. All three were later released.
Despite the release, tensions have recently resurged.
An employee at Canada’s largest electricity producer
Hydro-Quebec who was involved in researching battery materials
has been charged with espionage for allegedly trying to steal
trade secrets to benefit China, Canadian police said on Monday.
News of the arrest came as Trudeau and Xi were attending the
G20 summit.
This month, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to divest
their investments in Canadian critical minerals, citing national
security.
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