Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with China's President Xi Jinping at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov 16, 2022. - via Reuters
BEIJING (Agencies): China’s foreign ministry on Thursday (Nov 17) said Chinese President Xi Jinping was not criticising Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a day after Xi was seen confronting Trudeau at the Group of 20 summit over alleged leaks of their closed-door meeting.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning told a regular media briefing that Beijing supports having frank exchanges as long as they are held on an equal basis, and said China hopes that Canada will take action to improve bilateral ties.
“The video you mentioned was indeed a short conversation both leaders held during the G-20 summit in Indonesia. This is very normal. I don’t think it should be interpreted as Xi criticising or accusing anyone,” Mao said.
In the one-minute video clip published by Canadian broadcasters on Wednesday, a translator for Xi could be heard in the video telling Trudeau that “everything we discussed was leaked to the paper(s), that’s not appropriate”.
Speaking evenly and wearing a slight smile, Xi said: “And that’s not the way (our discussion) was conducted, was it?”
Xi went on to say, in Mandarin: “If there is sincerity, we can communicate well with mutual respect, otherwise the outcome will not be easy to tell.”
The Chinese president then appears to try to walk past Trudeau, but the Canadian leader replied: “In Canada, we believe in free, 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.”
Raising his hands, Xi cut him off, saying bluntly: “Create the conditions. Create the conditions.”
He then broadened his smile, barely looking at Trudeau as he shook his hand and left his counterpart to make his way out of the room.
Xi’s 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 - Trudeau’s first talk with the Chinese leader in more than three years.
Mao said on Thursday: “I want to stress that China never interferes in the affairs of other countries.”
She did not say whether Trudeau’s bringing up of alleged Chinese interference on Tuesday was the reason behind the recorded exchange between the two leaders the following day.
She also said that Xi telling Trudeau “otherwise the outcome will not be easy to tell” was not a threat, as both leaders were engaging in a normal exchange and merely “expressing their respective positions”.
It was not clear when, if ever, Xi became aware that the conversation was being filmed. The video captured a rare candid moment for the Chinese president, whose image is carefully curated by Chinese state media.
Dr Van Jackson, senior lecturer in international relations at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, said the tone of the encounter was akin to “a great power speaking to a less-great power”.
He said: “Xi’s language and body posture was not at all unusual for government officials who are on less than friendly terms – in private.”
Tensions between China and the United States put Canada in an “especially awkward position”, Dr Jackson said, adding that Ottawa’s “embeddedness in the network of Anglo-Saxon, intelligence-sharing democracies all but ensures it will draw China’s ire more and more as time passes”.
Trudeau said last week that China was playing “aggressive games” after Canadian broadcaster Global News reported on a “clandestine network” of federal election candidates funded by Beijing.
Canadian federal police also said last week they were investigating so-called police stations set up illegally by Beijing in Canada.
Relations between the two countries plunged into a deep freeze when Canadian authorities arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 for allegedly flouting US sanctions on Iran.
Beijing later detained two Canadian citizens in China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, in what critics called a tit-for-tat response. All three were released last year after lengthy negotiations.
