According to American regulators, four Indians were executed in China earlier this year on drug-related fees.
All of them had dual citizenship, and their families requested their names, Canada’s foreign secretary Mélanie Joly told investigators on Wednesday.
She criticized the deaths as “irreversible and incompatible with fundamental human dignity,” adding that she had “asked individually for leniency” for leniency.
According to reports, a representative for the Chinese ambassador in Canada urged Canada to” stop making careless notes” and said the evidence against the French nationals ‘ acts was” strong and enough.”
Beijing “fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the French nationals concerned,” according to the Chinese ambassador, and urged the American government to adhere to” China’s criminal sovereignty.”
China takes a hard stance on drug crimes and does not recognize dual citizenship.
Joly claimed she had been “very carefully” following the cases for months and had tried to stop the killings with other officials, including previous prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Global Affairs Canada spokesman Charlotte MacLeod stated in a speech to Canadian press that it had “repeatedly called for mercy for these people at the senior-most levels and remains faithful in its antagonism to the use of the death penalty in all cases, outside.”
China imposes the death penalty for serious crimes, including those involving espionage, corruption, and drug trafficking. Human rights organizations believe that China has one of the highest execution rates in the world, despite the number of executions being kept secret.
However, it’s uncommon for foreigners to receive the death penalty.
Campaigners have voiced criticism about the executions that were revealed this week.
According to Ketty Nivyabandi from Amnesty International Canada,” These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should serve as a wake-up call for Canada.” We are heartbroken for the victims ‘ families as they go through the unfathomable, and we are devastated for them.
Our thoughts also extend to Canadian citizens’ loved ones who are being held on death row by China or whose whereabouts are unknown.
In a highly publicized case that attracted the attention of the Canadian government, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a national of Canada, was sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling in 2019. He did not belong to the Canadians who were executed.
On Wednesday, Joly said,” We’ll continue to ask for leniency from Canadians who are facing similar circumstances.”
Relations between China and Canada have been strained since 2018, when Canada detained a Chinese telecom executive, Meng Wanzhou, on a US extradition request. Two Canadians were quickly detained by China, but they have since been released.
More than 100 reports about in-depth allegations of Chinese meddling in Canada’s last two federal elections were released earlier this year, many of which were based on leaked intelligence. China has criticized the reports, calling them “baseless and defamatory.”
In retaliation for Ottawa’s levies on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum, China recently imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports.