- Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said that China has executed four dual Canadian citizens in recent months.
- Joley said she and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded leniency on drug-related charges, but the Beijing Embassy noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship.
- Relations between China and Canada have been further tense recently due to global trade tensions, with tariffs on each other’s exports.
China has executed four Canadians in recent months Canadian Foreign Minister said Wednesday. Such executions by Westerners are relatively rare.
Foreign Secretary Mélanie Joly said she and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded leniency against allegations related to drugs involving dual citizens.
Beijing’s embassy in Ottawa said the execution was caused by drug crimes and pointed out that China does not recognize dual citizenship.
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“We strongly condemn the execution,” Joley told a reporter in Ottawa. “I personally demand leniency… They are both dual citizens.”
Joley said Canada has always demanded leniency against Canadians facing death penalty abroad. She said the families have asked the government to withhold details of the four people’s identities.
Global Affairs spokesman Charlotte MacLeod said they continued to provide consular assistance to families and asked the media to respect their privacy. She said Ottawa continues to advocate for Canadian Robert Schellenberg’s leniency and was sentenced to death for drug smuggling.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said that China has executed four Canadians in recent months. (Adrian Wyld/Canada News via AP)
“China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said. “The facts of the crimes committed by Canadian nationals involved in the case are clear and the evidence is solid and sufficient.”
It is believed that China executes more prisoners every year than the rest of the world, although the total is a secret of a country. Traditionally, gunfire performed executions, although fatal injections have been conducted in recent years.
An embassy spokesman said Beijing “fully guarantees the rights and interests of Canadian nationals” and urged the Canadian government to “stop making irresponsible remarks.”
There are some tensions between the two countries. China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some imports of Canadian farms and food imports after Canada imposed responsibilities on electric vehicles made in China and steel and aluminum products in October. Tariffs increase global trade tensions One round of tariff announcement The United States, China, Canada and Mexico.
“China sent us a message that if we want to understand the improvement of this relationship, we have to take steps,” said Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China.
Ian Brodie, former chief of staff of former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, posted on social media that it turns out that “agricultural tariffs are not the worst part of China’s EV tariffs.”
Michael Chong, an opposition conservative MP, said: “Implementing many Canadians in the short term is unprecedented and is clearly a sign that Beijing has no intention to improve. Relationship with Canada. ”
China is Canada’s second largest trading partner, but relations have been terrible since Canadian authorities in 2018, arresting a former Huawei executive who had been charged with fraud in the United States.
Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the U.S. founder, arrested two Canadians in a U.S. extradition request. They were sent back to Canada in 2021, and on the same day, Bangladesh later returned to China after reaching an agreement with the US authorities.
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Many countries call China’s actions “hostage politics” while China describes allegations against Huawei and Meng as politically motivated efforts China’s economic and technological development.
Amnesty International condemned the execution, noting that China executed thousands of people in 2023.
“These shocking and inhumane Canadian citizens should be a wake-up call for Canada,” Ketty Nivyabandi, the organization’s English-speaking Canadian head, said in a statement Wednesday.
