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Days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at the G20 summit in Bali, Chinese President Xi Jinping has accused him of leaking details of the meeting.
Xi Jinping told Trudeau, through an interpreter, that it was inappropriate. Lack of “honesty”..
Xi accused Trudeau of leaking information about China-Canada relations to the media
He often referred to reports that Trudeau had raised the issue of spying and Chinese interference in Canadian elections during the speech.
The closed-door talks were the first between the two leaders in years.
In a video captured by reporters of the recently concluded summit in Indonesia, Xi and Trudeau can be seen standing close together and conversing through a translator.
“Everything we discussed was leaked to the newspapers, which is not appropriate,” the Chinese president told his opponent in Mandarin.
The situation captures a A rare moment of President Xi’s spontaneityIts image is usually carefully controlled by Chinese state media.
After smiling and nodding, the Canadian prime minister replied, “In Canada we believe in open and honest dialogue, and we will continue to have that.”
“We will continue to seek to work constructively together, but there will be things on which we disagree,” he added.
Before Trudeau could finish, Xi interrupted him to first “make conditions,” then shook his counterpart’s hand and they left.
image source, Good pictures
Xi Jinping (here with Indonesian President Joko Widodo) attended the G20 summit in Bali.
Tension between China and Canada
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson downplayed the incident, describing it as a normal exchange that should not be construed as criticizing or blaming anyone.
Spokesman Mao Ning said Beijing supports open exchanges as long as they are kept on an equal footing.
A short but expressive exchange is highlighted Tension between China and Canada, has intensified since the 2018 arrest of tech giant Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and China’s arrest of two Canadians accused of espionage. All three were later released.
However, tension recently rose after the arrest of Yusheng Wang, who works for the utility company Hydro-Québec, on espionage charges.
“To the detriment of Canada’s economic interests, the Chinese people may acquire trade secrets for the benefit of the Republic,” Canadian police said in a statement.
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