Prime Minister Rebuked During Informal Talks with Chinese President

Chinese President Xi Jinping calls out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his breach of diplomatic norms in leaking the contents of their informal meeting November 15, 2022, to the press.

The ruling elite in Canada like to refer to Canada as a "middle power," that "punches above its weight." The Trudeau government instead harbours illusions of grandeur.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's diplomacy suffered a setback which got the world's attention when he was given a dressing down by President Xi Jinping of China at the G20 for divulging the contents of a private conversation between the two to the media. Xi told Trudeau in an exchange caught on video that such breaches of diplomatic norms are unacceptable and undermine trust which is the basis of good communication. Xi pointedly told Trudeau that his kind of behaviour can have unforeseen consequences.

Trudeau had initiated an informal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia on November 15. A Canadian government source later told Agence France Presse (AFP) that the topics raised by Trudeau included climate change, missile launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, human rights, Canada's allegations that China is interfering in its elections and the conflict in Ukraine. No official press release about the meeting was made by either side.

The following day, as the G20 was wrapping up, President Xi took Prime Minister Trudeau aside and expressed his frustration with how the meeting had been handled by the Canadian side. Footage of the exchange was captured by a press pool camera operator.

"Everything we discuss has been leaked to the paper, that's not appropriate," Xi said to Trudeau through a translator. "And that's not the way the conversation was conducted," he continued.

"If you are sincere, we should communicate with each other in a respectful manner, otherwise it will be hard to say what the result will be like," Xi added.

Trudeau then said Canada believes in "free and open and frank dialogue" and would continue to look to work constructively together with China, but that "there will be things we will disagree on, and we will have to..."

"Let's create the conditions first," Xi replied, before shaking hands with Trudeau and taking his leave.

President Xi conducted nine formal bilateral meetings during the G20, none of which included Canada.

China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning, at a regular press conference on November 16, fielded a question from AFP about the meeting between Xi and Trudeau on November 15. The exchange went as follows:

AFP: Can you confirm that President Xi met with Canada's Prime Minister yesterday? And can you share any details of the conversation?

Mao Ning: I have nothing to share at the moment.

Trudeau later spoke at a press conference about his November 16 exchange with Xi, where he insinuated that China is secretive and dictatorial: "Canada trusts its citizens with information about the conversations that we have in their name as a government," he said, adding that not all conversations with leaders were going to be easy, but pointed out that "systems" in the two countries were different and in China "there is not always the same openness that a democratic leader can and must have with his citizens."

India's Business Standard reported that "Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly also confirmed that she discussed the same topics with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi" at the G20. Neither Global Affairs Canada nor Minister Joly's twitter account have deigned to inform Canadians about what took place at this meeting. Whatever the reason, this lack of transparency seems to be par for the course for Joly and her ministry. A meeting in July between Joly and Wang, at Joly's request, also did not seem to merit that Canadians be informed about it, while China's Foreign Ministry published the remarks made by both sides shortly after the meeting.

For his part, the Prime Minister's pretensions to moral authority only confirmed his illusions of grandeur about Canada's international role. It was in sharp contrast to the measured response from President Xi, whose own moral authority comes in no small part from leading a party and country whose affirmation of human rights includes lifting more than 800 million of its people out of poverty.

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This article was published in

Volume 52 Number 8 - November 2022

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2022/Articles/MS52082.HTM

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