China sentences Canadian to death, raises diplomatic tension

BEIJING (AP):

A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death yesterday in a drug-smuggling case as tensions heightened between the two countries over Canada's arrest last month of a top Chinese technology executive.

In a sudden retrial, a Chinese court in northeastern Liaoning province announced that it had given Robert Lloyd Schellenberg the death penalty, reversing an earlier 2016 ruling that sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

The court gave no indication that the penalty could be commuted, but Schellenberg's fate is likely to be drawn into diplomatic negotiations over China's demand for the release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly condemned yesterday's proceeding, suggesting that China was using its judicial system to retaliate against Canada. In his strongest comments yet, Trudeau said "all countries around the world" should be concerned that Beijing is acting arbitrarily with its justice system.

"It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be to all our international friends and allies, that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply a death penalty," Trudeau said.

DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

Further escalating the diplomatic crisis between the two countries, a Chinese spokeswoman said earlier yesterday that Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat taken into custody in apparent retaliation for Meng's arrest, was not eligible for diplomatic immunity.

Schellenberg was detained more than four years ago and initially sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2016. But within weeks of Meng's December 1 arrest, an appeals court suddenly reversed that decision, saying the sentence was too lenient, and scheduled yesterday's retrial with just four days' notice.

The Chinese press began publicising Schellenberg's case after Canada detained Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, at the request of the United States, which wants her extradited to face charges that she committed fraud by misleading banks about the company's business dealings in Iran.

Days after Meng's arrest, Kovrig and Canadian businessman Michael Spavor were detained on vague national security allegations. Meng is out on bail in Canada awaiting extradition proceedings that will begin next month.

Canada has embarked on a campaign with allies to win the release of Kovrig and Spavor. The United States, Britain, European Union and Australia have issued statements in support. Trudeau called US President Donald Trump about their case last week and the White House called the arrests "unlawful".