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China has executed four Canadians over drug-related convictions, Canada’s 
foreign affairs minister said Wednesday, a development that threatens to 
worsen an already tense relationship between the countries.

Mélanie Joly, the Canadian minister, told reporters that she condemned the 
executions, and that the government would still seek clemency for others.

“We will continue to engage with China as we’ll continue to not only 
strongly condemn but also ask for leniency for other Canadians that are 
facing similar situations,” Ms. Joly said.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not provide details on the executions 
but defended Beijing’s strict penalties on drug-related crimes.

The executions were first reported by The Globe and Mail. The newspaper 
said that the executions had taken place earlier this year, citing 
Canada’s Department of Global Affairs as saying so on Wednesday in 
response to a question from the news outlet.

Ms. Joly told reporters that she and the former prime minister, Justin 
Trudeau, had asked Beijing for leniency in recent months to try to prevent 
the executions. She said those involved were dual nationals of Canada and 
China. (China, however, does not recognize dual citizenship.)

The Globe and Mail cited a statement from Ottawa condemning the killings 
as “inconsistent with basic human dignity.” The department did not 
immediately respond to a request for comment from The New York Times.

John Kamm, the founder of the Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group in 
San Francisco that has campaigned for people on death row in China, said 
he had been helping to lobby China on behalf of the four individuals but 
was unable to share their details for privacy reasons.

He said the four were men and that their cases were handled in the 
southern province of Guangdong. Mr. Kamm noted that it was “highly 
unusual” for China to execute four foreigners within a short time frame.

The four Canadians’ cases had been under judicial review in China for two 
years before they were executed, Mr. Kamm said.

Canada’s relationship with China has deteriorated since late 2018, when 
the Chinese government jailed Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, two 
Canadians in China. That move came after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, an 
executive at the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, in Vancouver, at 
the request of the United States government.

China’s detention of Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor was widely condemned in 
Canada as hostage diplomacy. In 2021, Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig were 
released after Ms. Meng was allowed to return to China.

In recent years, the former prime minister, Mr. Trudeau, and senior 
members of his cabinet have increasingly criticized China publicly over 
human rights issues. Concerns have also grown over Chinese interference in 
Canadian affairs, including allegations that candidates in an election had 
received secret, illegal funding from China.

Ms. Joly, the foreign minister, had called China an “increasingly 
disruptive global power” and warned Canadian companies about the potential 
risks in doing business there.

More recently, Canada has faced growing concerns that Chinese goods were 
flooding into Canada. Mr. Trudeau last year announced that Canada would 
impose 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, aligning Canada 
with the United States.

On Wednesday, Ms. Joly said that the details of the four Canadians who 
were executed were not being revealed at the request of their families. 
She said they had been facing criminal charges linked to drugs, according 
to China.

The Chinese Embassy, without providing details, said that the cases were 
handled according to law. “The facts of the crimes committed by the 
Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is 
solid and sufficient,” it said. The embassy urged Canada to respect 
China’s judicial sovereignty and “stop making irresponsible remarks.”

At least one other Canadian faces the death penalty in China, Robert Lloyd 
Schellenberg, who has been convicted of drug trafficking. He had initially 
been sentenced to 15 years in prison. But in 2019 he was handed a death 
sentence in a one-day retrial, one month after the Canadian authorities 
had arrested Ms. Meng, the Huawei executive.

“Foreigners, like every person in China, are at risk of all kinds of 
arbitrary detentions and unfair trials,” said Maya Wang, the associate 
China director at Human Rights Watch. “The universe of cases is really big 
and we only hear about some of them occasionally.”

After the release of the two Michaels, people had hoped for a thaw in 
relations, but that has not taken place on a substantive scale, said 
Lynette Ong, a professor in Chinese politics at the University of Toronto.

The timing of these executions is a way for Beijing to keep up the 
pressure and keep up the leverage over Canada in bilateral discussions, 
Ms. Ong said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/world/asia/china-canada-drug-
executions.html

Fair is fair.  They knew drug dealing would get them killed.