Canada’s Foreign minister has condemned the execution of four Canadian citizens in China in recent weeks over “drug-related crimes”.
Melanie Joly said she and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had asked for clemency over the accusations involving dual citizens in China.
But Beijing has insisted that “China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes and maintains a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude towards the drug problem.”
Canada consistently asks for clemency for Canadians facing the death penalty abroad, according to Ms Joly.
"We strongly condemn the executions," she told reporters in Ottawa. "I asked personally for leniency ... They were all dual citizens."
Ms Joly added that the families of those executed have asked the government to withhold details of the identity of the four individuals.
In response, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa explained that China does not recognise dual citizenship and insisted that “the facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the car are clear, and the evidence is sold 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.
But such executions of Westerners are relatively rare.
The Chinese 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 despite comes amid tensions between the two nations.
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 aluminium products.
The tariffs add to global trade tensions amid rounds of tariff announcements by the United States, China, Canada and Mexico.
China is Canada's second-largest trading partner, but relations have been bad since Canadian authorities in 2018 arrested a former Huawei executive who the US had charged with fraud.
Amnesty International condemned the executions and noted that China executed thousands of people in 2023.
"These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should be a wake-up call for Canada," the group's head for English-speaking Canada, Ketty Nivyabandi, said Wednesday in a statement.
