A Canadian citizen accused of drug smuggling is expected to be tried in a Chinese court on Saturday, according to a state-run news outlet.
The case of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg has been winding its way through the judicial system for several years, but the latest development comes at a tense time between Canada and China, which have been feuding over the arrest of a Chinese tech heiress in Vancouver, and the subsequent detention of Canadians by Chinese authorities.
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Schellenberg will be tried by the high court in the province of Liaoning for drug smuggling charges in the city of Dalian, according to Reuters.
A Dalian government-run news portal said Schellenberg is appealing an earlier ruling, which found him guilty of smuggling an “enormous amount of drugs” into China, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
“Global Affairs Canada has been following this case for several years and has been providing consular assistance to the Canadian citizen since they were first detained in Liaoning, China,” said Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Richard Walker in a statement to VICE News. “We will continue to provide consular services to them and their family.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a daily briefing she didn’t have any details about the case beyond what had been reported.
“On the relations between China and Canada, I believe everyone is clear about the cause behind [the tension],” said Chunying on Thursday. “China has already expressed a strong position multiple times.”
Relations have deteriorated following the Dec. 1 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Huawei Technologies Ltd., by Canadian police at the request of the United States. The US alleges she conspired to defraud banks so they cleared millions of dollars in transactions to Iran, which violates American sanctions.
China has been pressing Canada to release Wanzhou, who is out on bail. In what is largely seen as retaliation for Meng’s arrest, China detained two Canadian citizens —
former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor — on suspicion of endangering state-security. A third Canadian, a teacher, was arrested over a visa issue last week.
In a conference call on Saturday, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that ambassadors around the world have been asking their host countries to speak out against the “worrying precedent” set by Kovrig and Spavor’s detention. The United States, Britain, and the European Union have already made statements in support of Canada.
Beijing has refused to release the detained Canadians, accusing Canada and its allies of having “different” human rights standards when it came to Weng.
“Where were their voices when the senior manager of the Chinese company was illegally detained by the Canadian side at the behest of the U.S. side?” Hua said Monday. “It is quite obvious that the human rights they are talking about have different standards when it comes to citizens of different countries.”
Hua defended the arrests, saying Kovrig and Sparov had “engaged in activities undermining China’s national security.”
Cover image: Chinese and Canadian flags on the Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario on Thursday, Sept., 22, 2016. Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press
