China’s sentencing of a Canadian to death for drug trafficking threatens to escalate tensions between the two countries and set a dangerous precedent, according to experts.

On Monday, the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in the northeastern province of Liaoning increased Robert Schellenberg’s sentence from 15 years in prison to the death penalty, concluding the Canadian had played “a key role” in a failed attempt to smuggle 222kg (almost 500lbs) of methamphetamine from China to Australia in 2014.

The verdict has raised questions about whether Beijing is using the case to exert pressure on Ottawa after Canadian authorities detained senior Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, in December.



“We’re at a juncture where the case could proceed quite expeditiously if Beijing so chooses,” said Maggie Lewis, a professor of law and expert in Chinese law at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

According to Lewis there are several points where Chinese authorities can stop or slow the process, or speed it up.

“If Beijing wants to put the screws on, it could keep this case going forward in a rapid fire manner as we’ve seen since the December appeal, or the government could press the pause button, or just slow down the pace.”

Schellenberg has 10 days to appeal the death penalty. If he doesn’t, or if the appeal is rejected, then the court’s verdict would go to the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing. If they approve it, the execution could happen within seven days, but the court could also reduce the sentence.

Two other Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, are also being held in China on unspecified allegations related to national security.



Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau has accused Beijing of arbitrarily applying the death penalty in Schellenberg’s case. The country’s foreign ministry issued a travel warning to Canadian citizens.

On Tuesday, the state-run Global Times criticised Trudeau’s remarks, pointing out that drug trafficking is a felony in China. “Western centrism has been very obvious in recent disputes between China and Canada. Whatever Canada does, it is the rule of law, but whatever China does is not,” the English-language editorial on Tuesday said. “This unreasonable speculation is a rude contempt toward Chinese law.”

Experts say it is the timing and pace of Schellenberg’s case more than the application of the death penalty that raises questions. The Global Times editorial noted that China has executed “many foreign nationals” over drug smuggling. At least 19 foreign nationals were convicted of drug smuggling between 2009 and 2015, the human rights group Dui Hua Foundation told the New York Times.

Schellenberg, who has been detained since 2014, originally received a sentence of 15 years in a ruling in November last year. In December, a higher court ordered a retrial as prosecutors claimed they had emerging evidence pointing to Schellenberg’s role as a more central player, giving the defence little more than two weeks to prepare. The retrial lasted one day before a verdict and sentence were handed down.

“I find it extremely odd that the authorities could sit on a case for almost three years, and then within two weeks find ‘new’ evidence to suddenly sentence a man to death,” said William Nee, China researcher for Amnesty International.

Retrials, especially those in which a heavier sentence is given, are extremely rare. Donald Clarke, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, found that re-trials were ordered in at most 2% of criminal appeals in China in 2017.

“Retrials are generally imposed for a lighter sentence. It’ really really unusual to send back for retrial in order to impose a heavier sentence. The unusual happened here,” he said.

Critics worry retaliatory measures may become more common. “The case appears to reinforce the message … China views the holding of human hostages as an acceptable way to conduct diplomacy,” Clarke wrote before the retrial on Monday.

In 2014, after Canadian authorities arrested a Chinese businessman for extradition to the US over hacking claims, Chinese police arrested a Canadian couple who had been running a cafe since the 1980s on spy charges. Following Huawei exectuive, Meng Wanzhou’s arrest in December, at least 13 Canadians have been detained in China, with most of them deported.

“What this means for the Chinese government’s tactics going forward in large part depends on how this plays out,” Lewis said.

“If this approach yields results that are favourable to Beijing, then it makes sense the government would consider using similar tactics in the future,” she said. “We are in uncharted territory.”