Chinese President Xi Jinping scolded Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau in an on-camera dressing down at the G20 summit.
Xi Jinping on Wednesday criticised PM 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 published by Canadian broadcasters, 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.
“Everything we discussed has been leaked to the papers. That is not appropriate,” Xi remarks.
Speaking evenly and wearing a slight smile, he says: “And that’s not the way (our discussion) was conducted, was it?”. As Trudeau listens in silence, the Chinese President addresses him directly, “If there is sincerity, we can have conversations based on an attitude of mutual respect. Otherwise, the results will be unpredictable.”
Xi then appears to try to walk past Trudeau, but the Canadian leader replies: “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,” he tells Xi.
Raising his hands, Xi cuts him off, saying bluntly: “Create the conditions. Create the conditions.” He then broadens his smile, barely looking at Trudeau as he shakes his hand and leaves his counterpart to make his way out of the room.
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.
