A Chinese government spokesperson on Thursday accused Canada of acting in a “patronizing manner” following a heated disagreement between President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that underscores the depth to which bilateral relations have sunk.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning made the remarks after Xi reprimanded Trudeau at Wednesday’s G20 summit over media reports of an earlier meeting in which Trudeau shared his concerns. concerns about Chinese interference in the affairs of Canadian interns. The apparently spontaneous disagreement and through a translator was caught on video.

Mao denied that China ever interfered in the internal affairs of other nations and said Canada was responsible for the deterioration of relations.

“Canada will have to take concrete steps to create conditions for improved China-Canada relations,” he told a daily press briefing. The conversation was “completely normal and should not be interpreted as criticism or censure of President Xi”.

Mao added that there was a clear lack of respect from Canada.

“China has no problem having sincere dialogue with other countries,” he said. “But we want sincere dialogue to be based on equal treatment and mutual respect, rather than condescendingly criticizing the other.”

In his comments to Trudeau, Xi said, “Everything we discussed was leaked to the newspaper; it’s not appropriate.”

“And that’s not… the way the conversation was conducted, if there’s any sincerity on his part,” Xi said, at which point Trudeau interrupted him and took a step towards Xi.

“In Canada, we believe in free, open and frank dialogue, and that’s what we will continue to have,” Trudeau said. “We will continue to seek to work together constructively, but there will be things we will not agree on.”