Xi Jinping and Justin Trudeau - The Mighty vs. the Mouse

At this year's edition of the G20 meeting being held in Indonesia, one moment between two of the world's leaders garnered very significant attention from the world's mainstream and non-mainstream media.  Here it is:

 

 

Don't let Xi's smile fool you.  He is playing the role of the consummate diplomat by not publicly showing outright anger at Trudeau, rather, playing the role of a polite but aggrieved world leader.

 

Apparently, this is the article that angered Xi which was published in Canada's National Post:

 

...which states the following:

"The “interference” is likely a reference to a Nov. 7 Global News report that cited intelligence officials saying they suspected China of meddling in the 2019 election. Also, an employee at Hydro-Quebec, Canada’s largest electricity producer, was arrested and charged by police on Monday over allegations of trying to steal trade secrets for China.

 

Trudeau discussed his concerns about Chinese “interference activities” in Canada on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali, the government source said."

There has been significant diplomatic strain between the two nations, particularly after the arrest of Meng Wenzhou, CFO and Deputy Chair of Huawei, in Vancouver, Canada on December 1, 2018 where she was being held under house arrest in response to Washington's arrest warrant for bank fraud issued on August 22, 2018 as shown here:

 

 

In many quarters, the arrest of Meng was seen as a move by the Trudeau government to ingratiate itself to the wishes of the United States government, the world's foremost anti-China nation.

 

The narrative that China has interfered in Canadian politics has been dealt with by China's leadership.  Looking at an opinion piece on Global Times, the Communist Party of China's daily tabloid on November 4, 2022, more than a week prior to the brief confrontation between Xi and Trudeau we find this:

 

 

Let's look at some key quotes with my bolds throughout:

 

"Imagine the leader of a country, which willingly surrenders its sovereignty and right to another nation, is accusing a third country thousands of kilometers away of interfering in its election - how absurd is that!

 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is rehashing the so-called Chinese interference in his country's elections. According to Canadian media outlet Global News, he warned Monday that China, among some other countries, is "playing aggressive games" with Canadian democracy and institutions."

 

According to the Global Times, here is the reason for Canada's confrontational approach to China:

 

"Trudeau's remarks clearly echo the US-hyped "China's infiltration" theory. And they come after another Canadian media reported on Sunday that Canada will release a "long-awaited strategy for dealing with China" that will "look to Washington." What the Canadian PM said on Monday proves yet again that Canada's foreign policy, especially that toward China, doesn't fall far from the US'.

 

In fact, Canada is well aware that the deterioration of relations with its second largest trading partner is hugely damaging to its own interests. But as the US has exerted unprecedented pressure on its allies to keep its alliance system from falling apart, Ottawa has no other choice but to follow Washington's clamors for getting tougher on Beijing.

 

The option piece goes on to note that Trudeau is treating China as "an imaginary adversary" and that "everything that China does seems to have a hidden purpose, whether to influence his country's politics or to undermine the international order the West dominates."

  

Furthermore:

 

"In Washington's anti-China choir, Ottawa has become one of the most active members. It not only sings along to US' tune, but also sometimes sings one pitch higher than the US in terms of containing China. But to engage in such a dangerous game as a US pawn, Canada is risking drawing fire to itself....

 

Canada has the right to determine its foreign policy as a sovereign country. But instead, it has always been subordinate to the US on major security issues."

 

Here is the key sentence that is very applicable to Justin Trudeau's narcissistic view of the world:

  

"Just like the Canadian PM, some Western politicians tend to blame China for everything that goes wrong in their democratic systems in an oversimplified way to avoid any responsibility. They do not see the root cause of the decay of Western democracy, much less bother to do so."

  

In closing, through its Global Times' voice, China's Communist Party warns that Western politicians like Justin Trudeau need to ask themselves what really poses a threat to Western democracy rather than blindly accepting and following Washington's narrative that China (and Russia for that matter) is to blame for everything that is going wrong with what passes for democracy in the 21st century.

 

While Justin Trudeau's believes that he is a key and highly influential world leader, in reality, he is little more than a mouse playing around the margins of the global geopolitical arena.   The recent confrontation between Xi Jinping and Canada's nominal Prime Minister are proof of Trudeau's low stature in international relations.  In China's case, a nation of with over 1.4 billion people, the world's second largest economy and and its third most powerful military is highly unlikely to care what a Canadian politician thinks of them.