(CNN) When China handed down a death sentence to a Canadian citizen this week, it sent shockwaves around the world.

China rarely executes Westerners. The last high-profile case was in 2009, when British national Akmal Shaikh was executed for carrying 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of heroin at Urumqi Airport.

Like the sentencing of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg this week, Shaikh's death sentence prompted outrage in the West and appeals for leniency from his government.

But should we be surprised by Schellenberg's sentence for conspiring to smuggle more than 222 kilograms (489.4 pounds) of methamphetamine from a Chinese port city to Australia?

China is the world's top executioner, according to Amnesty International, sentencing thousands to death every year. China does not disclose execution numbers.

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