4 Canadians executed in China: Beijing cites ‘rule of law’ after Ottawa’s angry remarks

Canada has strongly criticised China for executing four of its citizens on drug-smuggling charges, adding to ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, said on Wednesday that all four were dual citizens and were executed earlier this year. She added that Ottawa would ask for leniency for other Canadians facing the same fate.

“There are four Canadians that have been executed, and therefore we are strongly condemning what happened,” she said.

“Canada strongly condemns China’s use of the death penalty, which is irreversible and inconsistent with basic human dignity,” a GAC spokesperson, Charlotte MacLeod, said in a statement to The Guardian. “Canada repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere.”

MacLeod said Canada was providing consular assistance to the victims’ families and asked the media to “respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

However, China gave a firm response on Thursday, stating that it had acted “in accordance with the law” despite Canada’s condemnation of the executions.

Beijing suggested on Thursday that the Canadians had been convicted of narcotics offences, saying, “… combating drug crimes is the common responsibility of all countries.”

“China is a country under the rule of law,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

Beijing, she said, “treats defendants of different nationalities equally without discrimination” and “handles cases fairly in strict accordance with the law.”

China “protects the legitimate rights of the parties concerned as well as the consular rights of the Canadian side, in accordance with the law,” Mao said.

China’s zero tolerance policy towards serious offences

Beijing defended the executions in a statement to The Globe and Mail, saying drug-related crimes are serious offences that harm society and that China maintains a “zero tolerance” policy.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said she and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who left office last week, had asked China for leniency.

China does not publicly disclose death penalty figures, but rights groups like Amnesty International estimate that thousands of executions take place each year.

This week, Beijing also announced that a former Chinese engineer had been sentenced to death for allegedly leaking state secrets to a foreign power.

Sour relations between Beijing, Ottawa

Relations between Canada and China have been tense for years. The 2018 arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive in Vancouver on a US warrant led to Beijing detaining two Canadians on espionage charges. Ties worsened over allegations of Chinese interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections, which Beijing denies.

In 2023, Joly expelled a Chinese diplomat accused of targeting a Canadian opposition lawmaker critical of China. Ottawa has also condemned Beijing’s security crackdown in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uyghur Muslims.