A video of Chinese President Xi Jinping scolding Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has surfaced online, giving the world a rare glimpse into the inner workings of high-level diplomatic relations.

The video, which was leaked to the mainstream media outlets, shows a visibly angry Xi Jinping berating Trudeau over leaks to the media about their private conversation that they had in the recent past.

“Everything we discussed was leaked to the paper(s), that’s not appropriate,” Xi said through the interpreter. “That is not appropriate, and that’s not the way the conversation was conducted.

“If there is sincerity, we can communicate well with mutual respect, otherwise the outcome will not be easy to tell,” Xi, speaking Mandarin, added.

“In Canada we believe in free and open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have,” Trudeau said. “We will continue to look to work constructively together, but there will be things we disagree on – ”

An exasperated Xi cut Trudeau off, saying, “Create the conditions, create the conditions, OK?”

The Cdn Pool cam captured a tough talk between Chinese President Xi & PM Trudeau at the G20 today. In it, Xi express his displeasure that everything discussed yesterday “has been leaked to the paper(s), that’s not appropriate… & that’s not the way the conversation was conducted” pic.twitter.com/Hres3vwf4Q

— Annie Bergeron-Oliver (@AnnieClaireBO) November 16, 2022

The video of Xi’s berating of Trudeau highlights the often delicate balancing act that world leaders must perform when dealing with China. On one hand, they need to stand up for their own interests and values; on the other hand, they need to avoid offending or angering a country that is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful nations on the planet.

In this case, it appears that Trudeau chose to err on the side of caution and avoid any direct confrontation with Xi. However, by doing so, he may have come across as weak and ineffective—something that could damage his standing on the world stage, as weak as he appears already. Only time will tell how this incident will affect Trudeau’s relationship with China going forward.

Trudeau is definitely wrong for leaking this sort of information and didn’t even bother to apologize for his actions. When he begins responding, he doesn’t even bother waiting for the interpreter to finish saying what he was saying, showing extreme disrespect for what Xi had to say.