Canada says China executed an unspecified number of Canadians earlier this year
TORONTO (AP) — China executed an unspecified number of Canadians earlier this year, Canada’s government said Wednesday. Such executions of Westerners are relatively rare.
Canada’s Global Affairs office declined to say how many people or give names. Beijing’s embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes but declined to provide details. The embassy noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship.
“Canada repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere,” Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said in a statement.
MacLeod said they continue to provide consular assistance to families and requested that media respect their privacy. She said Ottawa continues to advocate for clemency for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling.
“China always impose 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.”
China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the total is a state secret. Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have been introduced in recent years.
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 and steel and aluminum 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.
China is Canada’s second largest trading partner, but relations been bad since Canadian authorities in 2018 arrested a former Huawei executive who the U.S. had charged with fraud.
China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company’s founder, on a U.S. extradition request. They were sent back to Canada in 2021, the same day Meng returned to China after reaching a deal with U.S. authorities in her case.
Many countries called China’s action “hostage politics,” while China described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China’s economic and technological development.