China’s Xi Jinping was filmed lecturing Justin Trudeau in an awkward exchange. It offers a rare glimpse into Xi’s personal style of diplomacy.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping was filmed chastising Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
The 40-second video, captured by a Canadian news cameraman, offers a rare glimpse into Xi’s personal style of diplomacy.
“Everything we discussed has been leaked to the paper, that’s not appropriate,” Xi told Trudeau, per a translator who was with Xi during the exchange. “And that wasn’t the way that we conducted the conversation.”
Xi added that there needs to be “sincerity” from the Canadians. “Otherwise, it will be hard to say what will happen,” the Chinese leader said.
Trudeau responded that Canadians believe in “free, open, and frank dialogue.” Xi did not look at Trudeau and raised his hands, seemingly to cut him off.
“Create the conditions, create the conditions,” Xi said.
Before Trudeau could respond, the Chinese leader smiled, shook his hand, and said “Good!” before walking away. It’s not immediately clear what meeting Xi was referring to during the exchange, but Trudeau on November 7 spoke of China “continuing to play aggressive games” with Canada’s democratic institutions.
Remarking on his exchange with Xi, Trudeau said that “not every conversation is going to be easy,” per The Globe and Mail. Representatives for Trudeau’s office and China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
Wednesday’s exchange was a rare, unscripted interaction from the typically calculated Xi, Ian Chong, a professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, told Insider.
“It suggests a certain ease with forcefulness on the part of Xi,” Chong said. “But he certainly is unafraid to put pressure on Canada and is unhappy about Canada revealing their own side of the exchange.”
Dylan Loh, an assistant professor in foreign policy at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, said the video captures only a portion of Xi and Trudeau’s full exchange. “That said, the clip does lend the impression of Xi dictating the pace of how relations should proceed, which can be taken also as an indication of diplomatic strength,” he said.
Xi may have been trying to set a “standard” with Trudeau over what information can be shared with the public, said Lee Jonghyuk, an assistant professor of international studies at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore.
“One thing for sure is when having a bilateral talk, Xi does not want to follow the western custom that each individual leader can decide what kinds of content can be shared with the media,” Lee told Insider. “In China, the default is closed and confidential, and then, if they think to be opened, then carefully opened.”
“Xi would like to let others follow Chinese customs,” he added.