China overturns death sentence for Canadian in drug case

TORONTO - China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official told AFP on Feb 6, in

a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw

as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing.

Schellenberg’s lawyer Zhang Dongshuo, reached by AFP over the phone in Beijing on Feb 7, confirmed the decision was announced on Feb 6 by China’s highest court.

Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China-Canada ties nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians – Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig – on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory.

Then, in January 2019, a court in north-east China retried Schellenberg, then 36, sentencing him to death while declaring that his 15-year prison term for drug trafficking had been too lenient.

The court said he had been a central player in a scheme to ship narcotics to Australia, in a one-day retrial that Amnesty International called “a flagrant violation of international law.”

Schellenberg has denied wrongdoing.

The Canadian official requested anonymity in confirming the decision by China’s highest court to overturn Schellenberg’s death sentence.

Schellenberg, who has been held in north-eastern Dalian since 2014, will be retried by the Liaoning High People’s Court, his lawyer Mr Zhang said. The timing for the retrial has not yet been set.

Mr Zhang said he met Schellenberg in Dalian on Feb 6, and that he appeared relatively relaxed.

Mr Carney, who took office in 2025, visited China in January as part of his global effort to broaden Canada’s export markets to reduce trade reliance on the United States.

“Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is aware of a decision issued by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China in Mr Robert Schellenberg’s case,” foreign ministry spokesperson Thida Ith said in a statement sent to AFP.

She said the ministry “will continue to provide consular services to Mr Schellenberg and to his family”, adding: “Canada has advocated for clemency in this case, as it does for all Canadians who are sentenced to the death penalty.”

Key sectors of Canada’s economy have been hammered by the US tariffs, and Mr Carney has said Canada can no longer count on the US as a reliable trading partner.

Mr Carney says that despite ongoing tensions, including allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections, Ottawa needs a functioning relationship with Beijing to safeguard its economic future.

When in Beijing in January, Mr Carney met Chinese President Xi Jinping and heralded an improved era in relations – saying the two countries had struck a “new strategic partnership” and a preliminary trade deal.

GAC did not say whether diplomacy during Mr Carney’s visit related to Schellenberg’s case impacted the Chinese court’s decision.

“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be provided,” the spokesperson said.

Schellenberg’s lawyer Mr Zhang said Mr Carney’s visit raised his hopes that the Chinese court would announce a relatively positive outcome for his client.

Ms Meng, who had initially been charged with scheming to evade US sanctions on Iran, was freed in September 2021. Mr Spavor and Mr Kovrig were released the same month. AFP