CHINA: DEATH FOR CANADIAN MAN OVER DRUG SMUGGLING

BEIJING: A Canadian man serving a jail sentence for smuggling drugs was on Monday sentenced to death by a Chinese court amid a diplomatic row over Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou, a top official at Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

The Dalian intermediate people’s court in northeast China ordered Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to be executed, setting aside an earlier verdict that found him guilty of smuggling 200 gm of methamphetamine and had put him behind bars for 15 years.

The earlier verdict was found to be lenient by the court, reports said on Monday. A Reuters report, quoting a court statement from its website, said Schellenberg was told he has the right to appeal to Liaoning High Court within 10 days on receiving the ruling.

The Canadian was involved in organised international drug crimes, the court said.

The verdict comes in the background of a tussle between China and Canada after the Canadian police arrested Meng on a request from the US. She was granted bail in December.

Meng, 46, is the daughter of Huawei's founder and her detention angered China and soured its relations with both Canada and the US. Earlier in the day, the foreign ministry said that Canada’s criticism of China detaining two Canadian citizens is groundless, noting one of them had no “diplomatic immunity”.

“Chinese foreign ministry confirmed earlier that coercive measures have been taken against two Canadians suspected of jeopardising China's national security,” a state media report said.