Canada has strongly condemned China’s execution of four Canadian citizens on drug smuggling charges earlier this year, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly announced on Wednesday.
Joly revealed that all four individuals held dual citizenship and stated that Ottawa would appeal for leniency for other Canadians facing the death penalty in China.
"There are four Canadians that have been executed, and we are strongly condemning what happened," Joly told reporters, confirming they had been convicted on drug-related charges.
The Canadian Foreign Ministry clarified that Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian sentenced to death in 2019 for drug smuggling, had not been executed.
Canada-China relations have remained strained since 2018 when Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, was arrested in Vancouver at the request of the Trump administration. In response, China detained two Canadian nationals. All three were released in 2021.
Earlier this month, Beijing imposed tariffs on more than U.S. $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products. The move was a response to Ottawa’s levies on Chinese electric vehicles, steel, and aluminum products last year.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa rejected Canada’s criticism, calling it an "irresponsible remark."
"China imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes and maintains a 'zero tolerance' policy towards the drug problem," the embassy said in a statement, without confirming the executions.
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One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a fresh attack on Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
Yemen's Houthis renewed warning to airlines, airport workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously and that the kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”, a day after an attack on Riyadh's international airport that killed 12 people.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Monday that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling to accept the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined high school students protesting outside a school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Tuesday, as a wave of student demonstrations continues across France.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited a newly opened defence museum displaying weapons developed under his leadership, including an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers are set to discuss measures to tackle transboundary haze during preparatory meetings ahead of the ASEAN summit in November, as forest and land fires in Indonesia continue to affect air quality across the region, the Philippines said on Tuesday.
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the United Kingdom believes Iran was likely behind an alleged plot connected to RAF Fairford, a military airbase in Gloucestershire in England that has played a role in U.S. operations against Iran, escalating tensions between London and Tehran.
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