In an unusual public display of anger, Chinese President Xi Jinping scolded Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G-20 summit in Indonesia on Wednesday. Jinping expressed unhappiness over the fact that their earlier conversation was ‘leaked’ to the press by Trudeau’s office.
The incident happened during an informal talk between Trudeau and Jinping after the conclusion of the G-20 mete in Bali, which was caught on camera. In the conversation that took place with the help of a translator, the Chinese Premier said, “Everything we discussed has been leaked to the paper, that’s not appropriate”. It was a rare display of anger by a world leader to another in full public view.
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
Xi Jinping also alleged that the conversation was wrongly reported in media, as he said, “and that’s not how the way the conversion was conducted.” He further added, “If there was sincerity on your part, then we shall conduct our discussion with an attitude of mutual respect, otherwise there might be unpredictable consequences.”
Trudeau shot back by saying that he believes in free frank dialogue. He said, “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 will disagree on.”
To this, Jinping said, “that’s great, let’s create the conditions first.” After that, he shook Trudeau’s hand and walked away.
Reportedly, Xi Jinping was unhappy over the fact that the details of his earlier conversion with the Canadian PM were published in the media. In a brief talk between the two leaders during the G-20 summit on Tuesday, Justin Trudeau expressed concern over the alleged interference of the Chinese government in Canadian domestic politics.
A press release issued by the Canadian PM’s office said that Trudeau “also raised our serious concerns around interference activities in Canada”. The statement added that they also discussed North Korea and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
It is notable that after the conclusion of the G-20 meeting in Indonesia, the presidency of the 2023 summit was handed over to India.
