Outcry at death penalty for smuggling

BEIJING: China said yesterday that it was “not worried in the slightest” by mounting international concern over the death sentence handed to a Canadian for drug smuggling.

Monday’s sentence for Robert Schellenberg for smuggling 222kg of methamphetamines prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to accuse China of “arbitrarily” applying the death penalty.

The UN said it was opposed to the death penalty apart from exceptional circumstances, and Australia’s acting foreign minister Simon Birmingham said he was “deeply concerned” by the case.

Speaking at a news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Canada’s “so-called allies could be counted on 10 fingers” and did not represent the views of the wider international community.

“I can clearly state that we are not worried in the slightest,” Hua said of the mounting outcry, adding that a majority of Chinese supported severe punishment for drug crimes.

Schellenberg’s sentence has further strained relations between China and Canada, already aggravated by the December arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, on a US extradition request as part of an investigation into suspected violations of US trade sanctions.

A lawyer for Schellenberg, Zhang Dongshuo, said that his client would appeal. |