China sentences another Canadian to death on drugs charges

BEIJING: China has sentenced a fourth Canadian to death on drugs charges today (Friday) in less than two years, as tensions soar between the two countries.

The development came a day after a court in the provincial capital Guangzhou handed a death sentence to Canadian national Xu Weihong on a charge of making drugs.

According to the Foshan Municipal Intermediate Court in the country´s southern Guangdong province, Ye Jianhui had been sentenced for trafficking and manufacturing drugs and would have all his assets confiscated.

The court informed that another suspect in the case was also given the death penalty and four others sentenced to between seven years and life in prison.  However, the death penalty is automatically referred to as China’s highest court for review.

State media informed that authorities had seized more than 217 kilogrammes of white crystals containing MDMA from Ye and five others in 2016.

Earlier in 2019, China also sentenced two other Canadians to death on drug trafficking charges.

Ties between Canada and China have nosedived over Canada’s late 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huawei’s founder, at Vancouver’s airport at the request of the United States, which wants her extradited to face fraud charges over the company’s dealings with Iran.

China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor weeks after Meng’s arrest, accusing them of vague national security crimes.