In the interaction, Xi expressed his displeasure with Trudeau over details of what they discussed in a brief meeting this week being “leaked” to reporters, while Trudeau sought to defend the importance of “open” dialogue. But it’s not just what was said, but how it was said, that caught the eye of some, with Canada’s former ambassador to China saying it was “very unusual for a Chinese leader to act in this way” and a sign that the China feels that Canada is “a secondary country”. From what the two world leaders’ body language conveyed to the politics of the interaction, here’s what Ottawa and Canada-China experts are saying Wednesday about the exchange.
ON BODY LANGUAGE
Former Canadian Ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jaques: “I would say first that it is very unusual for a Chinese leader to act in this way because you have to understand that in Chinese culture you are not supposed to make your interlocutor lose face and you expect your interlocutor not to make you lose face But we see that Xi Jinping is deliberate, he is red in the face… He is agitated because he is waving his hands, which he does not usually do when he meets someone. And he clearly wanted to get a message across. What it is Unfortunately we didn’t hear everything he said because Prime Minister Trudeau interrupted the translator to push Xi Jinping. Good for the prime minister,” Sen-Jacques said in an interview with CTV News. “My impression of all this is that this shows that Xi Jinping wanted to send a clear message to the prime minister and other leaders and there is not much sympathy I would say for Mr. Trudeau… Clearly, Xi Jinping feels that the Canada is a small country. He doesn’t have much time for Trudeau, and that shows how complicated it’s going to be to try to restore even a modicum of relations… I’d say respect goes both ways. And clearly, Prime Minister Trudeau would not like Xi Jinping criticizing me like that in public,” Saint-Jacques continued. MacDonald Laurier Institute CEO Brian Lee Crowley: “Well, clearly, you know, Xi kept trying to distance himself from the prime minister. I thought his body language was disrespectful, it showed an indifference to what the PM was saying and the esteem or lack of esteem in which Xi holds the Prime Minister? I mean, she basically couldn’t even look at him,” Crowley said in an interview with CTV News Channel. “I think the prime minister … is not only responding to public opinion in Canada — which is increasingly skeptical of China — but also under significant pressure from the United States and other allies in the liberal democratic world who are saying, ‘We’re getting tougher on our attitude towards China and we see no evidence that Canada is following suit.” And I think the prime minister was not just aiming his comments at Xi, but at those allies who want to see more evidence of a little backbone in Canada’s China policy,” Crowley continued.
ON THE EXCHANGE POLICY
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne: “Listen, I wasn’t there, but what I’m happy about is that the prime minister is standing up as he always does for Canada and — and standing up for our position and saying this, as I saw in the press report, that we’re not going to tolerate this kind of thing in relation to interference… I think we should interact with eyes wide open. That’s what I would say,” Champagne said at a meeting on Parliament Hill. Conservative foreign relations critic Michael Chong: “I think the prime minister went to the summit unprepared to represent Canada’s interests and values. We still haven’t received the Indo-Pacific strategy from the government, and that should have been completed a long time ago, so the prime minister could go to the Summit prepared to defend Canada’s interests and values… What is most important is that we in Canada take action to address Beijing’s meddling in our democracy… And that is the problem that confines this matter to a private conversation with President Xi… I think the government is slowly waking up to the threat that we have been calling on them to act on for years… They have failed to act,” Chong told reporters after a meeting in the West Block. NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson: “This is not Prime Minister Trudeau’s first diplomatic episode, and it certainly won’t improve diplomatic relations with China. Delays in appointing an ambassador don’t help either. Ultimately, it’s important for Canada to stand firm against China’s claims of foreign interference in our election and we must take every opportunity to diversify our trade. China is not a reliable trading partner and it is important to build strong relationships with other countries in the region,” McPherson said in a statement.
With files from CTV News’ Annie Bergeron-Oliver
