China's consul general in Rio de Janeiro has called Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a "running dog," or lackey, of the U.S.
"Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada and have turned Canada into a running dog of the U.S," Li said on Twitter.
Relations between Canada and China are at a low following sanctions imposed on Canadian politicians, the extradition hearing in Canada of Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou and a report from the country's foreign affairs subcommittee on international human rights that concluded China committed human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims.
Earlier in March China responded to coordinated sanctions against it by Canada, the U.S., the European Union and the UK by imposing its own punishments.
Li blamed Trudeau for a diplomatic crisis between the two countries which began in December 2018 when Canada arrested Meng, the daughter of the founder of Huawei Technologies, at the request of the U.S.
Li criticized the independence of Canada's judiciary and called the country's decision to arrest Meng a "dirty thing." He said Canada was a "hostage taker."
"This is a very unfortunate and unnecessary tweet," said Zhiqun Zhu, an international relations professor at Pennsylvania's Bucknell University. "Insulting leaders of other countries is not a thing a diplomat should do. It is not only undiplomatic, but also against China's own culture of being polite and respectful."
