Death for Canadian Robert Schellenberg a ‘political’ act

Australia is being drawn into China’s bitter dispute with Canada.

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver last month. Picture: AP

Australia is being drawn into China’s bitter dispute with Canada, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry accusing acting Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham of not caring about drug smuggling and employees of state-owned companies warned about travel to Australia and other US allies.

Tensions between China, the US and Canada rose yesterday, with the State Department saying the death sentence handed down to Canadian Robert Schellenberg was “politically motivated”.

This followed talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who “expressed their concerns about the arbitrary detentions and politically motivated sentencing of Canadian nationals”.

The ministry was quick to hit out at Senator Birmingham after he said Australia was “deeply concerned” at the death sentence handed this week to Schellenberg for attempting to smuggle drugs from China to Australia in 2014.

“Does the Australian side wish to see this large batch of drugs arrive in its land and endanger its people?” spokeswoman Hua Chunying said late on Wednesday. “Does it have anything to do with Australia?” she asked.

Ms Hua said Senator Birmingham owed an explanation to the Australian people for his call for Schellenberg not to be given the death penalty for his involvement in a drug ring that planned to smuggle 222kg of methamphetamine into Australia.

Schellenberg was sentenced to 15 years jail last November, but the sentence was upgraded to the death penalty on Monday following a quick retrial — the latest in a series of actions against Canadian citizens in China following the ­arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver airport on December 1.

Ms Hua’s comments come as the State-Owned Assets Administration Commission asked some of its companies to tell staff to avoid business trips to the US and its allies, including Australia and other countries in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement.

SASAC, which oversees about 100 state-run companies, has also told some firms in recent weeks only to take secure company-issued laptops when visiting these countries if travelling is necessary.

Yesterday also saw news that US prosecutors have launched an investigation into Huawei Technologies for allegedly stealing trade secrets from US businesses. The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors could soon issue an indictment against the Chinese telecommunications giant.

Canada has been lobbying hard for the international community to support its appeal for clemency for Schellenberg and its concern about actions being taken against other Canadian citizens in China since Meng’s arrest.

Now out on bail, Ms Meng is due to return to court in Vancouver on February 6 to face a hearing on the US request she be extradited to face charges she violated US sanctions on business with Iran.

Ms Hua said Canada could “count on the fingers of one hand” how few allies had chosen to side with Canada in criticising Schellenberg’s death penalty. “These several countries by no means represent the entire international community,” she said. “For serious crimes posing great harm to the society, like drug smuggling, I believe it is the international consensus that such crimes can be strictly handled and punished.”