China sentences fourth Canadian to Death on Drug Charges

China has sentenced a 4th Canadian citizen to death on drug charges in less than 2 years following a sharp downturn in ties over the arrest of an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei.

On Friday, Ye Jianhui was sentenced by the Foshan Municipal Intermediate Court in the southern province of Guangdong. Ye had been found guilty of manufacturing & transporting drugs, the Court said in a brief statement.

Another suspect in the case was also given the death penalty & 4 others sentenced to between 7 years & life in prison. Death sentences are automatically referred to China's highest Court for review.

Ties between Canada & China have nosedived over Canada's late 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a company executive & the daughter of Huawei's founder, at Vancouver's airport in at the request of the U.S., which wants her extradited to face fraud charges over the company's dealings with Iran. Her arrest enraged Beijing, which calls it a political move aimed at constraining China's rise as a global technology power.

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, & a Canadian citizen identified as Fan Wei was given the death penalty in April 2019 for his role in a multinational drug smuggling case.

In apparent retaliation, China also detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig & Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor weeks after Meng's arrest, accusing them of vague national security crimes. 

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