JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally for the leak of a closed-door meeting between the two of them on the sidelines of the G20 summit, showing annoyance by Chinese leaders.
In a video footage published by Canadian broadcaster President Xi and PM Trudeau were seen standing close together and speaking through translators at the summit of the G20 Summit.
"It was inappropriate, and we didn't do it that way," President Xi said in Mandarin with a smile.
"If there is seriousness, we can communicate well with mutual respect, otherwise the results will not be easy to tell," he continued.
An interpreter for President Xi who was heard in the video told PM Trudeau, "Everything we discussed has leaked to the newspaper, it is inappropriate."
PM Trudeau responded to President Xi's initial criticism by saying, "In Canada we believe in free and open dialogues and frankly and that's what we will continue to do, we will continue to work together constructively but there will be things we don't agree with."
However, before PM Trudeau finished speaking, President Xi, looked a little upset, cut him off and said, "For the condition, make his condition okay?" then smiled as he held PM Trudeau's hand and left him.
The Chinese leader's disapproval may refer to media reports that PM Trudeau expressed "serious concern" about China's alleged espionage and "mixed hands" in the Canadian elections, when he met with President Xi on Tuesday. It is known that it was the first talk between the two in more than three years.
The two held a 10-minute informal meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday, according to government sources.
Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor state media published anything about the talks between President Xi and PM Trudeau.
It is known that President Xi had held nine formal bilateral meetings with other heads of state while at the G20 summit, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry website.
Meanwhile, Canada never released an official reading of the meeting, but Trudeau confirmed the conversations and points he told President Xi, during a press conference at the end of the G20.
"Canada trusts its citizens with information about the conversations we have in their name as government," PM Trudeau said according to a transcript of the press conference.
PM Trudeau added that not all conversations with leaders would go a long way, but showed'systems' in both different countries and in China "there is not always the same openness that a democratic leader can and must have with its citizens."
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