Canada warns citizens about China’s ‘arbitrary enforcement of laws’ after drug smuggling death sentence
- Canadians told to exercise high degree of caution in China after Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was sentenced to death in retrial on Monday
- Sentence seen as retaliation by Beijing for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou
Canada has warned its citizens of the “risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws” in China after a Canadian was sentenced to death in a retrial that further escalated tensions between Beijing and Ottawa.
“We encourage Canadians to exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” Global Affairs Canada said on Tuesday, without referring to the sentencing of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg on drug charges.
A court in Dalian, Liaoning province, sentenced Schellenberg to death for drug smuggling on Monday.
The sentence has been seen as retaliation by Beijing for Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou’s arrest in Canada in December at the request of the United States, where she is accused of fraud relating to violation of US sanctions against Iran. Beijing demanded that Canada release Meng or face grave consequences.