China has sentenced a fourth Canadian citizen to death on drug charges in less than two years following a sharp downturn in relations over the arrest of an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei. Another suspect in the case was also given the death penalty and four others sentenced to between seven years and life in prison. Ye's sentencing comes a day after fellow Canadian Xu Weihong was given the death penalty by the Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate Court, also in Guandong province. Convicted Canadian drug smuggler Robert Schellenberg was sentenced to death in a sudden retrial shortly after Meng's arrest, and a Canadian citizen identified as Fan Wei was given the death penalty in April 2019 for his role in a multinational drug smuggling case. "We oppose the death penalty at every step of the way," Champagne said in an interview on CBC's Power and Politics.

Source: CBC News August 07, 2020 08:08 UTC