Some observers might say people are “smart enough” to suspect that the latest round of Chinese law enforcement against a Canadian national is not coincidental as the two sides are still in a standoff over the arrest in Canada of Huawei's CFO, but an evidence-based crime eligible for the death penalty is a different matter.
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, the principal criminal in the organized international case, smuggled 222 kilograms of methamphetamine from China to Australia in 2014 and was sentenced to death during a retrial on January 14 at the Dalian Intermediate People's Court.
The initial sentence for the Canadian was 15 years in prison, despite the fact that 50 grams is the threshold for the death penalty according to Chinese law.
Xu Qingduo, a senior fellow at the Pangoal Institution, considers the new verdict to be a “due punishment,” noting that Chinese law is strict on drug issues for historical reasons.
Schellenberg was not the first foreigner sentenced to death in China for drug trafficking. Akmal Shaikh, a Briton who carried up to 4 kilograms of heroin at Urumqi Airport in September 2007, was executed on December 29, 2009.
“Justice is the priority,” Xu said. Ottawa, however, has chosen to question such justice, which David Law, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, believes wouldn't be so controversial if the initial sentence had been the death penalty.
“China has chosen to arbitrarily apply the death penalty,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the National Post. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland called it “inhumane and inappropriate,” asking Beijing for clemency.
Beijing on Wednesday responded that China will prevent any drug dealers from harming its people.
“If Schellenberg was smuggling and drug trafficking in Canada, we would not interfere with how Canada handles the case,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “But this happened in China and must be handled in accordance with Chinese law.”
China has its judicial sovereignty to impose a harsh sentence for drug trafficking, Law said, adding that China is one of a shrinking number of countries retaining the death penalty.
Jiang Wenran, a senior fellow from the University of British Columbia, said that despite Schellenberg's drug crime records in Canada, the death sentence was still a shock to Canada that has abolished the death penalty.
“The word ‘arbitrary' may sound a little bit strong to Chinese, but to the Canadian public, they have to do the appeal,” Jiang said.
Law also said that the penalty increase is “legal but unusual” given the timing, referring to the Canadian arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, in December at the request of the U.S. over security concerns.
“Both sides seem to have failed to come to a compromise in de-escalating the crisis,” Jiang said. “The worst is yet to come before it gets better.”
Xu argued that Canada has been used in a “political fight” between China and the U.S. “The ball is in the court on the Canadian side,” he concluded.
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