Canadian Gets Death Sentence In China Drugs Case

A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced a Canadian national to death in a ruling that could further inflame tensions between Beijing and Ottawa.

The Guangzhou Intermediate Court said in a statement it handed Xu Weihong the death sentence for manufacturing drugs, and all his personal property would be confiscated.

Xu was found guilty of making 120 kilos of ketamine in October 2016.

His co-defendant, Guangzhou-native Wen Guanxiong, was given a life sentence.

According to local media reports, Xu and Wen had gathered ingredients and tools and began making ketamine, then stored the drug in Xu’s home in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district. Police later confiscated more than 120 kilos of ketamine from Xu's home and another address.

The ruling comes after two other Canadians were sentenced to death on the mainland on drug-trafficking charges last year, as a diplomatic row escalated with Canada over the arrest of top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Canadian pleas for clemency for its citizens Robert Lloyd Schellenberg and Fan Wei have so far not been successful.

Beijing has also detained two Canadian nationals, including a former diplomat, on spying charges, in a move widely considered retaliation for Meng's arrest.

In June, China formally charged that pair – ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – after they were detained in the country in December 2018.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said there was no connection between Xu's sentencing and current China-Canada relations.

“I would like to stress that China’s judicial authorities handle the relevant case independently in strict accordance with Chinese law and legal procedures," Wang said at a daily briefing on Thursday. “This case should not inflict any impact on China-Canada relations."

He added, “Death sentences for drug-related crimes that are extremely dangerous will help deter and prevent such crimes." (AP & AFP)

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