China accuses Justin Trudeau of ‘irresponsible remarks’ as Canada imposes travel warning in dispute over death sentence

China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday issued a stern rebuke to Justin Trudeau, telling Canada to stop making “irresponsible remarks” after the prime minister critcised the death sentence handed to a Canadian citizen.

Mr Trudeau said on Monday it was of “extreme concern” that China chose to “arbitrarily apply the death penalty.” Canada also updated a travel advisory, saying citizens should “exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws.”

The remarks from Mr Trudeau came after a Chinese court increased Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg’s 15-year prison sentence to the death penalty on drug trafficking charges when he appealed the original verdict, handed down in November.

A judge in Dalian, a coastal city, determined Schellenberg played a “key part” in a plan to send 222 kilogrammes of methamphetamine to Australia.

The case has escalated tensions between Canada and China after Meng Wanzhou, a top executive from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, was arrested in December in Vancouver on a US extradition request related to Iran sanctions violations.

China condemned Mr Trudeau’s comments, expressing “strong dissatisfaction,” said Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We urge Canada to respect the rule of law, respect China’s judicial sovereignty, correct its mistakes, and stop publishing irresponsible remarks.”

Ms Hua also dismissed suggestions by critics that the Schellenberg case was in retaliation over Meng’s arrest, giving Beijing a bargaining chip to use against Ottawa. “Such remarks are malicious smearing and unwarranted accusations,” she said at a press briefing.

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, had accused Beijing of arbitrarily applying its laws
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, had accused Beijing of arbitrarily applying its laws Credit: Adrian Wyld

Still, experts have questioned why Schellenberg faced a rushed retrial after being originally sentenced last November, years after his 2014 arrest.

“The timing of this case is unusual,” Maggie Lewis, an expert on Chinese criminal law and professor at Seton Hall University told CTV, a Canadian broadcaster. But then Meng’s arrest “changed everything.”

“After that occurred, we saw a speeding up of the case,” she said. “We went from super slow to super fast, and the question now is which of these timings is going to happen from here on out.”

Chinese authorities also detained two Canadians in December – Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a business consultant – on suspicion of endangering national security.

The backdrop of Beijing’s anger over the Meng arrest “adds greater urgency to the need for immediate and concerted effort on the part of the Canadian government to convince Chinese authorities to overturn the death penalty in this case,” said Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International in Canada, a human rights advocacy group.

China is one of roughly 50 countries that still have the death penalty. Statistics on death sentences and executions carried out are considered state secrets, and thus “shrouded in high levels of secrecy,” said Neve. “It is clear, however, that China executes more people every year than all other countries around the world combined.”

Schellenberg will have ten days to lodge an appeal; if a higher court upholds the death penalty, his case would then be kicked to China’s Supreme Court, which is responsible for reviewing all death sentences.

If the Supreme Court were then to also uphold the execution order, that would typically be implemented within seven days, said Ms Lewis.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/15/china-accuses-justin-trudeau-irresponsible-remarks-canada-imposes/

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