Canada slams ‘cruel’ death sentence for citizen caught up in Huawei hostage diplomacy

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“We have maintained from the outset that his retrial and sentence were arbitrary,” Barton said in a call with reporters. “We remain deeply concerned about China’s arbitrary use of the death penalty for Robert Schellenberg.”

Relations between Ottawa and Beijing have deteriorated dramatically since Ms. Meng’s arrest in Vancouver nearly three years ago. The United States has requested the extradition of Ms. Meng to face fraud charges related to breaching U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Within days of Ms Meng’s arrest, China arrested two Canadians – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – on espionage charges. Both were tried in March this year on alleged espionage charges and are awaiting verdicts, with a verdict scheduled for early Wednesday morning.

China’s actions against Kovrig and Mr Spavor, along with the death penalty for Mr Schellenberg, are widely seen as hostage diplomacy – Beijing’s eye-opening stance to pressure Ottawa to release Ms. Meng.

Chinese authorities have denied any link between the actions against the Canadians and Ms Meng’s case in Canada, although Beijing has previously warned that Ottawa will face consequences if she is not released.

Canada has continued to call on China to pardon Mr. Schellenberg, and to release Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor, who have been held in difficult conditions.

Ms Meng, who has maintained her innocence, has been fighting her case while under house arrest in Vancouver, and began her three-week defense earlier this month.

Huawei, founded by her father Ren Zhengfei, has been blacklisted by the United States. The company has also been designated by the United Kingdom and the United States as posing national security and espionage risks, and its equipment has been banned from future use in Britain’s 5G telecom networks.

Mr Schellenberg’s death penalty case will now be referred to China’s Supreme Court for review, but there is no time limit under Chinese law for when this will happen.

“As we saw in the Schellenberg case, the pace can accelerate and slow down due to factors outside the case itself,” said Margaret Lewis, a professor at Seton Hall University who specializes in Chinese law, noting that developments with Canadians are often timed. To try Ms. Meng in Canada.

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