Send this page to someone via email A Canadian citizen is set to be tried on drug charges in, after being arrested in China around four years ago, according to Canadian government officials. The Canadian, who has been identified as Robert Lloyd Schellenberg by Global Times, a tabloid operated by the Communist Party of China, is set to head to trial Saturday in the Chinese port city of Dalian. The news comes amid already heightened tensions between Beijing and Ottawa, after two Canadians were detained in China earlier this month. A Global Affairs Canada spokesperson said it has been following the case for several years and has been providing “consular assistance to the Canadian citizen since they were first detained in Liaoning, China.” READ MORE: China won’t stop flood of fentanyl into Canada, sources say The spokesperson added that the Canadian government will continue to provide “consular services to them and their family.” No other information was given due to privacy concerns. Story continues below advertisement Schellenberg was arrested for smuggling “an enormous amount of drugs” into China, according to Dalian.runsky.com, a news portal operated by Dalian authorities. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in a daily briefing Thursday that she didn’t know much about the case, suggesting it’s not related to the arrests of two other Canadians on national-security grounds earlier this month. WATCH: Ottawa demands China release two detained Canadian men 2:27 Ottawa demands China release two detained Canadian men Ottawa demands China release two detained Canadian men – Dec 21, 2018 “I am not aware of the specifics of this case and I would refer you to the competent authority,” she said, according to an English transcript posted to the ministry website. But, she added: “As to the diplomatic tensions between China and Canada, I think you are very clear about the reason for that. I have made clear China’s solemn position on it many times before.” Story continues below advertisement The Dalian government news portal stated sarcastically that Schellenberg’s audacity was to be admired given that he “actually dared to smuggle drugs into China.” It pointed out that Chinese criminal law offers “no sympathy” for drug crimes. WATCH: Destination Canada pulls tourism ad in China 0:44 Destination Canada pulls tourism ad in China Destination Canada pulls tourism ad in China – Dec 20, 2018 China has some of the harshest drug laws in the world. People found guilty of smuggling large quantities of drugs face sentences ranging from 15 years’ imprisonment to life imprisonment and even the death penalty, the Global Times reported. In 2009, China executed British citizen Akmal Shaikh after he was caught smuggling heroin. Shaikh’s death prompted outrage in the U.K. over the apparent lack of any mental health assessment. The following year, Chinese authorities executed Japanese national Mitsunobu Akano for smuggling drugs. Story continues below advertisement READ MORE: Justin Trudeau says people around the world ‘extremely disturbed’ by detention of Canadians in China Schellenberg’s reported detention comes as Canada and China spar over the fate of Canadian nationals Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were detained in China on suspicion of endangering national security. Their detention came shortly after Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Vancouver at the behest of U.S. authorities who are seeking her extradition. WATCH: Ottawa demands China release two detained Canadian men 2:27 Ottawa demands China release two detained Canadian men Ottawa demands China release two detained Canadian men – Dec 21, 2018 China has demanded that Canada release Meng immediately, but neither country has drawn a direct connection between her arrest and the detention of Canadians in China. Follow @Kalvapalle Story continues below advertisement — With files from the Canadian Press<doc-sep>A Canadian man originally given 15 years in prison for drug smuggling was sentenced to death in China on Monday after a one-day retrial, the surprising verdict coming amid growing tensions between Beijing and Ottawa after the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive last month. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was given the death penalty in Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in the northeast province of Liaoning after an appeals court last month agreed with prosecutors that Schellenberg's original punishment was too lenient. The court on Monday said Schellenberg had an “extremely large” negative impact on China and was a “core member” of an international drug ring. CHINESE HUAWEI EMPLOYEE, POLISH FORMER INTEL OFFICER, ARRESTED IN POLAND FOR ESPIONAGE The 36-year-old said he was a tourist in China when he was duped by a man he believed was a translator and got caught in the scheme to smuggle methamphetamines, the Globe and Mail reported. “I am not a drug smuggler. I am not a drug user. I am a normal person,” he said in court Monday. “I am innocent.” Schellenberg has 10 days to appeal his sentence, the court said in a statement, which his lawyer Zhang Dongshuo told Reuters will most likely happen. Schellenberg was arrested in 2014 and received his initial 15-year sentence last November, months after his trial began in 2016. His case was then publicized by the Chinese press following the Dec. 1 arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on U.S. charges related to doing business with Iran. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Schellenberg’s family said they worried China would use him as a bargaining chip following Meng’s arrest. “He’s become a pawn,” his aunt Lauri Nelson-Jones told the New York Times. “We can only guess, but that is definitely what it looks like, and that is incredibly worrisome.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he's concerned China has chosen to "arbitrarily" apply death penalty in Schellenberg's case. China has vehemently protested Meng’s arrest in Canada and vowed to retaliate. At least 13 Canadian citizens were detained in China since the CFO’s arrest, the Globe and Mail reported earlier this month. Eight of the people detained have since been released. Chinese authorities also arrested two Canadians, Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman. Trudeau criticized China for “not respecting the principles of diplomatic immunity” in Kovrig’s arrest. China did not directly link the arrest to the charges against Meng, but said the men are being investigated in accordance with Chinese Law. The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>(CNN) — A Canadian citizen in China has been sentenced to death after a court convicted him of drug smuggling on Monday, a move likely to further inflame tensions between Ottawa and Beijing. The Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in northeastern China said Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was given a death sentence based on the nature and severity of his crime and in accordance with the Chinese criminal code. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized the ruling, which comes as relations have strained between the two countries following the arrest of a senior executive from the Chinese tech firm Huawei in Vancouver last month. According to the court, Schellenberg was dispatched to Dalian by drug traffickers in November 2014 to orchestrate the smuggling of more than 222 kilograms (489.4 pounds) of methamphetamine from the Chinese port city to Australia. Schellenberg and an accomplice bought tools and tires in an attempt to repackage the drugs before shipping them out in containers, according to the prosecution. Dalian Court Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, photographed in Dalian Intermediate People's Court. The Canadian was said to have inspected the cargo, assessed the workload and decided on a shipping date. After his accomplice turned himself into the police, Schellenberg fled Dalian and was arrested in southern China on December 1, 2014, when he tried to fly to Thailand, the court said. “I am not a drug smuggler. I came to China as a tourist,” Schellenberg said Monday before the verdict was announced, the AFP news agency reported. The court said Schellenberg is entitled to appeal his verdict and sentencing within 10 days. The court added that his rights to defense and translation were protected during the trial and officials from the Canadian embassy were in attendance. Schellenberg’s uncle told CNN the family was in shock over the ruling. “We don’t know how much to talk about right now and what to say. We are all very heartbroken right now and we are all in shock. We are just overwhelmed,” Gary Schellenberg told CNN by phone. Schellenberg went on to say the family is in close contact with Global Affairs Canada but have not had any contact with his nephew. The Schellenberg family released a statement Monday asking the Canadian government to protect its citizens. “The Schellenberg family cares deeply about our Robert who is being held under very difficult circumstances in China,” the statement read. “As a family we are communicating with our Member of Parliament, Mr. Ed Fast, who is working hard on our behalf to ensure that the Trudeau Government makes every effort to secure fair treatment for Robert. “The Schellenberg family requests that all Canadians stand with us and pray for the safe return of our loved one.” Trudeau ‘concerned’ amid rising tensions Trudeau said the Chinese court’s decision was “of extreme concern.” “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 the death penalty in cases facing, as in this case, facing a Canadian,” Trudeau said in a news conference following Monday’s ruling. Schellenberg was first tried in March 2016 and was convicted of being an accessory to drug smuggling in November 2018. Upon receiving a sentence of 15 years in prison, he appealed the verdict. A high court ordered a new trial in late December 2018 when the prosecution said they had uncovered new evidence to prove Schellenberg’s principal role in the case. Alexei Druzhinin/TASS/Alamy A 2014 file photograph of Meng Wanzhou. Schellenberg’s conviction and sentencing came amid worsening diplomatic tensions between the two countries after Canadian police detained top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on December 1. Meng, who is also the daughter of the Chinese tech company’s founder, has since been released on bail pending an extradition hearing to the United States on charges of violating sanctions against Iran. Since her arrest, multiple Canadian citizens have been detained in China. Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s ambassador to China from 2012 to 2016, said he believes China is making an example out of Schellenberg. In an opinion piece on January 9, the Chinese ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye effectively confirmed that the detention of two Canadian academics was in response to Meng’s arrest, raising further questions around Schellenberg’s case. “I have recently heard a word repeatedly pronounced by some Canadians: bullying. They said that by arresting two Canadian citizens as retaliation for Canada’s detention of Meng, China was bullying Canada,” the ambassador wrote last Wednesday in The Hill Times, a Canadian publication. “To those people, China’s self-defense is an offense to Canada. If someone slaps you on your left cheek, give him your right cheek, they told us. But I have never seen them doing as they said.” Saint-Jacques said Schellenberg’s conviction is “confirmation that we’re going through a crisis.” “Of course, the government will ask for clemency,” he said. “I would add also that Mr. Schellenberg claims that he was framed and that he never dealt with drugs” China severely punishes those caught smuggling or trafficking drugs, including foreigners. Anyone found with more than 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of a controlled substance can face the death penalty. “The administration of justice is not the same in China and the way that they collect evidence would not be acceptable in North American tribunals,” he said. He said that it was normal for China to invite foreign journalists to attend the trial. Canada updated its travel advice for citizens traveling to China Monday. The advice states that citizens should “exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws.” “The decision to travel is your choice and you are responsible for your personal safety abroad,” the advisory read. “We take the safety and security of Canadians abroad very seriously and provide credible and timely information in our Travel Advice to enable you to make well-informed decisions regarding your travel abroad.” In 2009, Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen convicted of carrying up to 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of heroin, was executed by lethal injection despite fierce protests from the UK government and his family, who said he suffered from a mental disorder and was tricked into carrying the drugs. According to China.org.cn, a government-run website, at least 12 foreign drug dealers have been executed in China since 2000, “and other foreigners were sentenced to death for other serious crimes.” China remains the world’s top executor, according to international monitors, though the country does not publish detailed statistics. CNN’s James Griffiths, Karen Smith, Ben Westcott and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
A Canadian man convicted of smuggling an “enormous amount of drugs” into China has been sentenced to death by a Chinese court in a case that will likely further strain relations between Ottawa and Beijing. A former oil worker, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, was initially arrested back in 2015 on suspicion of smuggling more than 200 kilograms of methamphetamine into China. In November 2018, he was sentenced to 15 years in jail and a fine amounting to 150,000 yuan ($22,185). Also on rt.com Canadian who ‘smuggled enormous amount of drugs’ may face death penalty in China The Canadian, who claims to be innocent and accuses China of framing him, appealed his case – but his appeal apparently backfired as the Chinese prosecutors considered his sentence too lenient and demanded a harsher one. Evidence obtained by the investigators “suggests Schellenberg was involved in organized international drug crime,” the prosecution argued. China's 4-day notice for retrial of Canadian Robert Schellenberg draws criticism from Western legal experts and his family. His defense lawyer had been denied access to his case files until late October, shortly before the first verdict, I am told https://t.co/CsGyugzGuEpic.twitter.com/v2kCCq4WgA — Eva Dou (@evadou) January 11, 2019 The death sentence has provoked an angry reaction from Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was deeply troubled by the development while denouncing the move as an abuse of power. “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 [the] death penalty… as in this case,” Trudeau told reporters. He also promised to continue to “engage strongly” with Beijing on the cases of Canadians detained in China. With friends like these who needs enemies? China makes Canada pay for playing US lackeyhttps://t.co/1AK4U5gmznpic.twitter.com/AmWJFr2hLd — RT (@RT_com) December 13, 2018 Several international rights groups have also condemned the verdict, arguing that there was a hidden agenda behind it. “China is going to face lots of questions about why this particular person, of this particular nationality, had to be retried at this particular time,” Sophie Richardson, Washington-based director of Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. Meanwhile, some questioned whether the drug-related crime meets the threshold of the “most serious” offenses. William Nee, a Hong Kong-based China researcher with Amnesty International, said it does not warrant a death sentence under international law. He added that Beijing drew particular attention to this case in a “deliberate way.” China’s strict drug laws apply a sentence of “15 years, life imprisonment or death” as well as property confiscation for drug trafficking in amounts over a kilogram. China has executed foreign drug smugglers before: UK citizen Akmal Shaikh was put to death in 2009, despite protests from British authorities, for smuggling over four kilograms of heroin. Also on rt.com China insists detained Canadians ‘without a doubt’ broke security laws This court decision, however, also comes against the backdrop of an ongoing row between China and Canada sparked by an arrest of the Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who was detained as she attempted to change planes at Vancouver International Airport en route to Mexico in late 2018. Soon after that, China detained two Canadian nationals, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on charges of endangering national security. Although the Canadian authorities never suggested any explicit connection between the arrests, some still saw Beijing’s actions as retaliation. Meng was detained at the request of the US authorities with a view to seeking her extradition on charges of violating the sanctions regime against Iran. Beijing has demanded her release, while US President Donald Trump hinted that he may use her as a bargaining chip in trade talks with China. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!