00:00 On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he hoped to meet Chinese President
00:05 Xi Jinping once the two sides had put in the work needed to repair the badly strained bilateral
00:11 ties.
00:12 For the unaware, Justin Trudeau and the Chinese President Xi Jinping were in San Francisco,
00:16 California to attend the APEC summit.
00:19 Both of the leaders were observed mostly ignoring or avoiding having any kind of conversation
00:24 during the APEC summit, which the media in Canada observed.
00:28 After being questioned by the Canadian media, Justin Trudeau said Canada and China need
00:32 to keep in touch.
00:34 Having had a good exchange with Xi, Trudeau continued he advised the Chinese leader that
00:38 the two sides should endeavour to establish a constructive dialogue, but there was no
00:42 picture opportunity, etc. resulting in rumours that Xi and Trudeau avoided one another.
00:48 The situation is possibly due to the previous meeting, which didn't end well.
00:52 Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had engaged
00:56 in a heated exchange of words on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali back in 2022.
01:02 The Chinese leader expressed dissatisfaction with the way media covered the conversations,
01:06 which were not intended to come out.
01:08 Xi was heard in the video complaining that the Canadian press was given access to confidential
01:13 discussions between China and Canada.
01:15 On the allegations, Trudeau didn't give any concrete reply, except for pitching he
01:19 respects transparency.
01:22 The tensions between Canada and China have persisted since 2018, despite the fact Trudeau
01:26 had once praised China's style of democracy.
01:28 When Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and the founder's
01:33 daughter at the request of US authorities in late 2018, things quickly spiralled out
01:37 of control.
01:38 In what was perceived as a retaliation, two Canadian citizens, Michael Spower and Michael
01:42 Kovrig, were immediately arrested in China and held there for over 1,000 days until Meng
01:47 was eventually set free.
01:49 In addition, China had put a multi-year ban on Canadian beef and canola imports, citing
01:53 unfounded and unverified pest concerns.
01:56 Further, the Canadian government excluded Canada when it relaxed restrictions on group
02:00 travel, a year after the Canadian government designated Beijing as the source of foreign
02:04 interference attempts and identified China as a disruptive global force.
02:08 However, there is more than complexity in this story.
02:11 While Trudeau seemed to be at odds with Xi, his government is alleged to be kind over
02:15 Chinese interference.
02:17 Beijing is accused of threatening opposition leaders like Michael Chong in Canada.
02:22 However, Canada stayed out of it altogether.
02:25 The Justin Trudeau government didn't take any action at all.
02:29 Critics contend that Trudeau's several agreements have strengthened China's economic position
02:33 while ignoring its human rights accord, favouring economic gains over moral considerations.
02:37 Additionally, a large portion of Chinese components are still entering the telecom sector of Canada.
02:43 This does make one wonder what exactly is Trudeau's position on China.
03:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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