Canada faults Chinese execution of four canadians on drug charges

Canada announced on Wednesday that China had executed four Canadian citizens earlier this year on drug smuggling charges, strongly condemning Beijing’s use of the death penalty.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters that all four individuals held dual citizenship and stated that Ottawa would seek leniency for other Canadians facing similar sentences.

“There are four Canadians that have been executed and therefore we are strongly condemning what happened,” she said, adding that all four had been convicted on drug-related charges.

In a separate statement, the Canadian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian sentenced to death in 2019 for drug smuggling, had not been executed.

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Relations between Canada and China have remained tense since 2018, when Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer of Chinese telecom firm Huawei, was detained in Vancouver at the request of the Trump administration. In response, China arrested two Canadians. Meng and the two Canadians were released in 2021.

Earlier this month, China imposed tariffs on over US $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products in retaliation for levies Ottawa had placed on Chinese electric vehicles, steel, and aluminum products last year.

In a statement, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa criticized Canada’s reaction.

“China always imposed severe penalties on drug-related crimes and maintains a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude towards the drug problem,” the embassy stated, without confirming whether any executions had occurred.

(REUTERS)

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