Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Wednesday (16th November 2022) exchanged barbs on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali over the leaked reports of their meeting.
Xi confronted Trudeau at the Group of 20 summit, accusing him of disclosing information about a private discussion between the men.
In what may have been a very unusual open remark caught on television, an agitated Xi, whose image is carefully curated by Chinese official media, was seen protesting to Trudeau’s claim that whatever they discussed in a prior meeting was leaked to the media.
“Everything we discuss has been leaked to the paper, that’s not appropriate,” Xi told Trudeau through a translator. That is not how the conversation was conducted,” he said.
“If you are being sincere, we must communicate with mutual respect,” Xi added. “If not, I’m not so sure how it will turn out.”
But Trudeau interrupted the translator, saying: “We believe in free, open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have, but there will be things we will disagree on.”
Xi was dismissive stating, “Lets put the conditions first,” before shaking the Canadian Prime Ministers hand and turning away.
Trudeau held talks with Xi, the first in more than three years, at the G20 summit , according to Canadian officials. Media reports said Trudeau had brought up “serious concerns” about alleged espionage and Chinese “interference” in Canadian elections during the discussion.
Asked later at a news conference about the exchange with Xi, Trudeau said “not every conversation is always going to be easy, but it’s extremely important that we continue to stand up for the things that are important for Canadians”.
The original meeting on Tuesday lasted for 10 minutes and was an informal chat on the sidelines of the summit, a Canadian government source told the Reuters news agency. China’s state-run Global Times said that the two leaders had a “very short” conversation at the summit’s opening ceremony.
