It’s barely 24 hours since Justin Trudeau was snubbed by Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit, and many major international media outlets have already covered their exchange. It seems that for many of them, this spontaneous conversation is emblematic of the Chinese president’s attitude towards democratic countries and their freedom of the press.
“While Mr. Xi has a reputation as a strongman, his image is carefully managed, and the 40-second conversation offered unusual insight into how he interacts with other leaders,” Chris Buckley said. , correspondent in China for the New York Timesin an article about the exchange between the two men.
The Chinese president criticized his Canadian counterpart for having leaked information to the media about their meeting on Tuesday. “Everything we talked about leaked to the media”, which is “not appropriate”, he said. “We believe in free, open and frank dialogue,” replied Justin Trudeau.
Louis Blouin, a Radio-Canada journalist who follows Mr. Trudeau on his many trips this month, revealed on Twitter that the exchange was filmed in extremis by David de la Harpe, a cameraman from Global News which captures footage of the official trip for Canadian media.
Extracts of different lengths were produced from the original recording by Mr. de la Harpe. The excerpt below was shared by the New York Times and has been viewed almost a million times on Twitter.
Several other excerpts have been shared many times on Twitter, including one that has more than 9 million views, and another that has garnered more than 3 million.
Other major international media have therefore also published on the exchange between the two politicians, including CNN, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Radio France internationale, France 24, France Info, BFMTV, and several others. Chinese media have also taken an interest in it, such as the South China Morning Postan English-language newspaper based in Hong Kong.
“The tone is dry, sometimes chilling, but always cordial”, commented journalists from France Info. Stéphane Lagarde, correspondent in Beijing for Radio France Internationale, rather underlined the unusual nature of the exchange: “It is not the estrangement between Xi Jinping and Justin Trudeau that is unusual, it is the fact that it is public. . The Chinese president addresses the Canadian Prime Minister in a calm tone, he smiles a little as if he were giving a lesson to a young schoolboy. »
Check the message
“Chinese propaganda has become a master of post-summit communication for a few years, often drawing via the Chinese state media, faster than the party encountered, a synthesis of the bilateral relationship that Beijing intends to put forward. A way also not to go back to the essentials, ”added Mr. Lagarde.
Thus, several northern media say that Mr. Xi’s “dry” or “cold” tone towards Mr. Trudeau could mean the Chinese president’s bitterness, as he loses control over the message that he would have liked to send. Others have bluntly suggested that he despises the freedom of the press inherent in democracies like Canada.
Internet users also seemed divided about the exchange between the two leaders. Many praised Xi Jinping’s attitude, calling Mr. Trudeau’s tone “naive” and “lack of leadership”. Others, on the contrary, congratulated the Canadian Prime Minister for having “defended his values”.
Still strained relationships
Canadian International Trade Minister Mary Ng has assured that Canada will maintain a respectful dialogue with China, although she warns that Canada’s biggest trading partner in Asia has changed.
In fact, for the past few months, Canada has been stepping up its efforts to strengthen its relations with Southeast Asia rather than with China, which is particularly criticized for its human rights violations.
“China has no problem having cordial conversations with other countries, but we expect this dialogue to be done as equals and with mutual respect, rather than condescendingly criticizing each other,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning the day after the exchange between Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Xi.
With The Canadian Press