Their brief exchange at the G20 summit in Indonesia was caught on television. “Everything we discussed has been leaked to the newspaper; this is not appropriate,” Xi Jinping told Trudeau through an interpreter. “And it’s not … the way the conversation was conducted, if there’s any honesty on your part,” Xi said, prompting Trudeau to interrupt. “In Canada, we believe in free, open and honest dialogue and we will continue to have that,” Mr. Trudeau said. “We will continue to try to work constructively together, but there will be things we disagree on.” Mr. Xi looked around as Mr. Trudeau responded. “Let’s create the conditions first,” Mr Xi replied through the interpreter, before the pair shook hands. The Canadian prime minister and Mr. Xi spoke for the first time at the G20 last Tuesday. A Canadian official said they discussed Ukraine, North Korea and climate change, and that Mr. Trudeau expressed “our serious concerns about interventions in Canada.” Asked later at a news conference about the standoff, Mr. Trudeau said “not every conversation will always be easy, but it’s extremely important that we continue to stand up for the things that are important to Canadians.” “He’s red in the face” Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he believes Xi purposely berated Trudeau on camera. “When you look at him, he’s red in the face, moving his hands,” she said. “He seems agitated. Clearly, he wasn’t happy with Trudeau leaking to press the details of the meeting. It’s interesting that he said that’s not the way the meeting went.” Image: The exchange took place at the G20 summit Mr. Saint-Jacques said it was possible Xi wanted to send a message that Canada would not dictate the terms of the relationship and that Mr. Trudeau had better take heed. “It is very unusual to see Xi Jinping engaging in this kind of public exercise to criticize someone,” Mr Sen-Jacques added. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie also said she discussed interventions with her Chinese counterpart at the G20. Ms Joly said last week that China was an increasingly disruptive force and warned businesses against deepening ties with the country. Canadian police on Monday charged a Hydro-Quebec employee with espionage for allegedly sending trade secrets to China. Relations between Beijing and Ottawa have also soured in recent years after Canadian authorities arrested a top executive at the tech company Huawei, who had been accused of fraud by the US. China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou – Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of the company’s founder – following a US extradition request. They were sent back to Canada last year, the same day Ms. Meng returned to China after reaching a deal with American authorities in her case. Many countries have accused China of engaging in “hostage politics”, while Beijing has described the charges against Huawei and Ms Meng as a politically motivated attempt to stunt China’s economic and technological development. Canada has banned wireless providers from installing Huawei equipment on its high-speed 5G networks, joining allies including the United Kingdom in shunning the company for its close ties to the Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army.
