Canada says China executed four Canadians earlier this year

China executed four Canadians in recent months, Canada’s foreign affairs minister said Wednesday.Such executions of Westerners are relatively rare.Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said she and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked for clemency in the drug-related accusations involving the dual citizens.Beijing’s embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes and noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship.“We strongly condemn the executions,” Joly told reporters in Ottawa.

“I asked personally for leniency … They were all dual citizens.”Joly said Canada consistently asks for clemency for Canadians facing the death penalty abroad.She said the families have asked the government to withhold details of the identity of the four individuals.Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said they continue to provide consular assistance to families and requested that the media respect their privacy.She said Ottawa continues to advocate for clemency for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling.“China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes,” a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said.“The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient.”China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the total is a state secret.Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have been introduced in recent years.The embassy spokesperson said Beijing “fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned,” and urged Canada’s government to “stop making irresponsible remarks.”The two countries have some tensions.China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports earlier this month, after Canada imposed duties in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum produ...