Death penalty increases tension
Trudeau condemns China’s sentence for Canadian national
BEIJING — A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death on Monday in a drug smuggling case as tensions heightened between the two countries over Canada’s arrest last month of a top Chinese technology executive.
In a sudden retrial, a Chinese court in northeastern Liaoning province announced that it had given Robert Lloyd Schellenberg the death penalty, reversing an earlier 2016 ruling that sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
The court gave no indication that the penalty could be commuted, but Schellenberg’s fate is likely to be drawn into diplomatic negotiations over China’s demand for the release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned Monday’s proceeding, suggesting that China was using its judicial system to retaliate.
In his strongest comments yet, Trudeau said all countries should be concerned that Beijing is acting arbitrarily with its justice system.
Further escalating the diplomatic crisis, a Chinese spokeswoman said Monday that Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat taken into custody in apparent retaliation for Meng’s arrest, was not eligible for diplomatic immunity.
Schellenberg was detained four years ago and initially sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2016. But within weeks of Meng’s Dec. 1 arrest an appeals court reversed that decision and scheduled Monday’s retrial with four days’ notice.
The Chinese press began publicizing Schellenberg’s case after Canada detained Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, at the request of the United States, which wants her extradited to face fraud charges for allegedly misleading banks on the company’s business dealings in Iran.
Days after Meng’s arrest, Kovrig and Canadian businessman Michael Spavor were detained on national security allegations. Meng is out on bail in Canada awaiting extradition proceedings that begin next month.
Canada has embarked on a campaign with allies to win the release of Kovrig and Spavor. Trudeau last week called U.S. President Donald Trump and the White House called the arrests “unlawful.”
Schellenberg’s lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo, said his client has 10 days to appeal.