Beijing To Protect Chinese People From Drug Dealers Of Any Nationality - Ministry

Beijing will not allow drug dealers from any country to endanger the lives and health of its citizens by smuggling narcotic substances within its borders, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday, commenting on the death sentence that was delivered by a national court against a Canadian citizen over drug-related offenses

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) Beijing will not allow drug dealers from any country to endanger the lives and health of its citizens by smuggling narcotic substances within its borders, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Wednesday, commenting on the death sentence that was delivered by a national court against a Canadian citizen over drug-related offenses.

On Monday, an intermediate people's court in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian sentenced Canadian national Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to death for drug smuggling. The gravity of the delivered verdict has sparked public outrage worldwide and triggered fierce criticism of China's judicial system.

"If the fact that Schellenberg was sentenced to death for [attempting to smuggle] 222 kilograms [489 pounds] of drugs is inhuman and inappropriate. Is it humane and appropriate to allow even more people to die from these drugs? ... Chinese people still remember the danger of drugs in the wake of 1840 [the beginning of the First Opium War between China and the British Empire], and China will not allow drug dealers from any country to harm the health and life of Chinese people again," Hua said at a briefing.

Hua stressed that China would resolve such cases in accordance with the country's laws, adding that the criticism of its decisions was irrelevant.

"If Schellenberg smuggled drugs to Canada, then China would not care how Canada deals with such cases, but the incident occurred in China, and therefore the case should be resolved in accordance with Chinese laws," she said.

In November, Schellenberg, 36, was sentenced by a Chinese court to 15 years in prison for reportedly attempting to smuggle methamphetamine from China to Australia. However, in late December, an appeals court ordered a retrial due to new findings in the case, claiming that the initial punishment was too lenient.