China’s death penalty ‘arbitrary’, Canada says
Envoy condemns ruling which comes as Huawei boss faces extradition hearing in Vancouver
CANADA’S envoy to China has criticised Beijing for exacting “cruel and inhumane punishment” after a court upheld the death penalty for a Canadian man, the latest development in a raft of legal cases that have worsened diplomatic ties between the two countries.
In 2019, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, initially sentenced to 15 years in prison, was handed the death penalty by a Chinese court in a one-day retrial. The Canadian claims he was in China as a tourist and was unwittingly swept up in a drug smuggling ring by a Chinese man who was recommended as a translator.
A court had decided on the death sentence just one month after the 2018 arrest by Canadian authorities of Meng Wanzhou, an executive for Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, after an extradition request from the United States.
Yesterday’s ruling by a Chinese court to press forward with the execution of Mr Schellenberg came as Ms Meng’s case in Canada was entering its final arguments.
“We’ve expressed our firm opposition to this cruel and inhumane punishment to China repeatedly, and will continue to do so,” said Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China.
“It is not a coincidence that these are happening right now, while the case is going on in Vancouver.”
“We’ve maintained from the beginning that his retrial and subsequent sentence were arbitrary,” Mr Barton said. “We remain deeply concerned by China’s arbitrary use of the death penalty for Robert Schellenberg.”
Relations between Ottawa and Beijing have deteriorated significantly since Ms Meng was arrested in Vancouver nearly three years ago. The US has requested Ms Meng be extradited to face fraud charges related to breaching Washington’s sanctions against Iran.
Within days of her arrest, China detained two Canadians – Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman – on charges of espionage. Both were tried in March this year on alleged espionage charges and are awaiting verdicts, with Mr Spavor’s due as early as today.
China’s actions against the pair, along with the death penalty for Mr Schellenberg, are widely seen as hostage diplomacy – Beijing’s tit-for-tat to pressure Ottawa to release Ms Meng.
Chinese authorities have denied any link between the proceedings against the Canadians and Ms Meng’s case, but Beijing has warned that Ottawa would face consequences if she wasn’t freed.
Canada has continued to call on China to grant clemency for Mr Schellenberg, and for the release of Mr Kovrig and Mr Spavor.
Mr Barton said that he would go to see Mr Spavor in Dandong, about 420 miles east of Beijing on the North Korean border.
Ms Meng, who has maintained her innocence, has been fighting her case while under house arrest in Vancouver, and she began a three-week defence earlier this month.
Huawei, founded by her father, Ren Zhengfei, has been blacklisted by the US. The company has also been classified by the UK and US as posing national security and espionage risks, and its equipment has been barred from future use in Britain’s 5G telecoms networks.
Mr Schellenberg’s death penalty case will now go to China’s supreme court to review, but there’s no time limit under Chinese law for when that must occur.
China has also tried to pressure the Canadian government by imposing restrictions on imports of canola seed oil and other products from Canada.
Meanwhile, Beijing is blocking imports of Australian wheat, wine and other products after its government called for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
“As we’ve seen throughout Schellenberg’s case, the speed can accelerate and decelerate due to factors beyond the case itself,” said Prof Margaret Lewis of New Jersey’s Seton Hall University, who specialises in Chinese law.
She noted that developments with the Canadians are often timed to coincide with Ms Meng’s trial in Canada.