China hits out at Australian criticism over death sentence for Canadian convicted drug smuggler
China has lashed out at Australia regarding its “concern” with the death sentence handed to a Canadian man convicted over a plan to smuggle drugs. China rejected Canada’s claim of ‘double standards’ over death sentence. China has also slammed Australia in response to criticism of the death sentence handed to a Canadian drug smuggler.
The Australian Government has expressed concern for Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, who has been sentenced to death after being convicted over a plan to smuggle more than 222kg ofmethamphetamine to Australia through Dalian, a port city in China’s north.
The Chinese Government said Australia’s response was “strange”.
“The smuggled drugs were going to be sent to Australia. You should ask the Australian officials if they were happy to see these drugs being imported into their country,” the SMH reported Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying saying.
Acting Foreign Minister of Australia Simon Birmingham said the Australian Government was “deeply concerned with this case”.
“We expect at a level of principle that not only the death penalty should not be applied but also wherever people are in trouble the rule of law ought be applied fairly,” he told ABC radio yesterday.
Two months before his execution sentence, the same court had sentenced Schellenberg to 15 years in prison, but a retrial charged him with being a key figure, rather than just an accessory.
Schellenberg has claimed he is innocent, telling the court, according to Canadian media: “I am not a drug smuggler. I am not a drug user. I am a normal person. I am innocent.”
He claimed a friend recommended a translator for his visit, and that translator ended up having connections to an international drug-smuggling ring.
Western legal experts have said the trial is an attempt by China to place pressure on Canada over its arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer and daughter of the founder of Chinese telco giant Huawei.
Former Canadian foreign minister Peter Mackay told The Wall Street Journal it was in part China’s way of warning the other nations against aligning with the US against Beijing — based on the fact that the arrest of Meng came at America’s request.
“We are a bit like the meat in a sandwich right now,” he said. “They wouldn’t dream of doing this to the US.”
