Washington: Xi Jinping, who recently secured a historic third term as Chinese President at the 20th National Congress, was seen berating Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G20 Summit held in Bali.
The video of brief interaction on the sidelines of the G20 went viral and behaviour by the Chinese leader was described as “arrogant”, according to The Washington Examiner. The first incident is the heated exchange of words between the Canadian Prime Minister and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their conversation on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali. The Chinese leader expressed his displeasure after Trudeau used his meeting with Xi to complain about Beijing’s interference in Canada’s elections held in 2019.
The Canadian Prime Minister had made his displeasure known publicly. However, Xi Jinping did not like that the media was aware of this issue being raised in the meeting. Xi said, “Everything we discussed was then leaked to the [newspapers]. That’s not appropriate.”
Chinese leader called for Trudeau’s “sincerity” before the Canadian leader politely interjected to defend himself. Xi then interrupted Trudeau to say, “Let’s create the conditions first.” After shaking hands with Trudeau, the Chinese President walked off.
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On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a brief conversation during the G20 summit, Global Times reported.
Mao Ning stressed that mutual respect is the foundation of ties between nations. She said that two sides expressed their stance and dismissed interpretations. As per the Washington Examiner, the heated exchange of words shows the “arrogant and deeply authoritarian character” of Xi’s government.
The report claimed, “As with the Trudeau exchange, it’s proof of Communist China’s zero-sum approach to foreign policy. It’s Xi’s way or the highway.”
Xi Jinping and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed to hold their bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Sunak tried to lay positive foundations for that meeting with “conciliatory rhetoric toward Beijing.”
The UK PM has raised US concerns that he could “acquiesce to Chinese mercantilism as prime minister.” Beijing responded by cancelling the meeting between Sunak and Xi. Chinese experts think that it is possible that the cancellation of the meeting is a way for Beijing to express its “strong dissatisfaction with Britain’s recent provocations” on the Taiwan question. The report claimed that China is furious over Sunak’s refusal to rule out providing arms to Taiwan.
The Global Times report said, “If these nations want to maintain their communication with China, they should know that the prerequisite is that they should never tread on China’s red line issue – the Taiwan question.” The two incidents at G20 will make Xi Jinping “look strong” in China. However, it will aggravate the British and Canadian governments and the people of the UK and Canada.
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