A very rare, or we should say unprecedented, moment was caught on a hot mic at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday which involved Chinese President Xi Jinping openly berating Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In the encounter, President Xi is seen angrily confronting Trudeau for leaking the details of a conversation that happened between them at the summit, which the Chinese leader assumed was private. It was an absolutely humiliating scene for the Canadian PM, especially as it was caught on film - a clip of which is now going viral.
Intimate insight of Xi lecturing Trudeau at G20. Xi said it was not ok, to leak their previous discussion points to newspapers.
“That’s not the way the conversation was conducted” pic.twitter.com/AxOJF9RtxE
— Marcel Münch (@_mm85) November 16, 2022
The episode also caught the attention of Bloomberg, The Guardian, and other international outlets. The two conversed via a translator standing close to them.
"That is not appropriate, and we didn't do it that way," Xi said in Mandarin, at first with a half-smile.
"If there is sincerity, we can communicate well with mutual respect, otherwise the outcome will not be easy to tell," he added, charging Trudeau with misleadingly conveying the contents of a prior dialogue to the media. "Everything we discussed was leaked to the paper(s), that's not appropriate."
The tense exchange continued, with Trudeau hesitantly trying to calm the Chinese leader, who is rarely if ever seen venting or losing his temper in public (Chinese state media seeks to carefully present his image to the public). Trudeau cut in: "In Canada we believe in free and 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."
By then a visibly frustrated Xi cuts him off, firing back, "That's great, the conditions first" - and then quickly shakes Trudeau's hand and briskly walks off.
The day prior, on Tuesday, the two leaders held a 10-minute informal meeting, the contents of which did not result in a press readout issued from either government. Meanwhile, Reuters speculates on the likely source of Xi's exasperation:
His 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, his first talks with the Chinese leader in more than three years.
One commentator underscored his impression that at the end of the exchange of pointed words Trudeau walked off "like a scolded puppy."
