China sparks international condemnation after executing four Canadians ‘by firing squad’ for drug crimes
20 March 2025, 15:56
China has sparked international outrage after executing four Canadians in recent months who faced accusations of drug smuggling.
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Canada’s foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly said she and former prime minister Justin Trudeau had asked for clemency in the drug-related accusations involving the dual citizens.
Beijing's embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes and noted that China does not recognise dual citizenship.
"We strongly condemn the executions," Ms Joly told reporters in Ottawa.
"I asked personally for leniency ... They were all dual citizens."
Ms Joly said Canada consistently asks for clemency for Canadians facing the death penalty abroad.
She said the families had asked the government to withhold details of the identity of the four individuals.
Amnesty International condemned the executions, saying: “These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should be a wake-up call for Canada.”
China is believed to carry out more executions each year than the rest of the world combined but an exact figure is unknown. They typically execute people by firing squad.
Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said they continued to provide consular assistance to families and requested that the media respect their privacy.
She said Ottawa continued to advocate for clemency for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling.
"China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said.
"The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient."
The embassy spokesperson said Beijing "fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned", and urged Canada's government to "stop making irresponsible remarks".
The two countries have some tensions. China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports earlier this month, after Canada imposed duties in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EV) and steel and aluminium products. The tariffs add to global trade tensions amid rounds of tariff announcements by the United States, China, Canada and Mexico.
"China is sending us a message that we have to take steps if we want to see an improvement in the relationship," said a former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques.
Ian Brodie, a former chief of staff to ex-Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, posted on social media that it turns out "agricultural tariffs weren't the worst part of the PRC (People's Republic of China) response to EV tariffs".
And opposition Conservative politician Michael Chong said "executing a number of Canadians in short order is unprecedented, and is clearly a sign that Beijing has no intention of improving relations with Canada".
China is Canada's second-largest trading partner, but relations have been bad since Canadian authorities arrested a former Huawei executive in 2018 who the US had charged with fraud.
China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company's founder, on a US extradition request. They were sent back to Canada in 2021, the same day Ms Meng returned to China after reaching a deal with US authorities in her case.
Many countries called China's action "hostage politics", while China described the charges against Huawei and Ms Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China's economic and technological development.
Amnesty International condemned the executions and noted that China executed thousands of people in 2023.
"These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should be a wake-up call for Canada," the group's head for English-speaking Canada, Ketty Nivyabandi, said in a statement.
