China just took another step toward putting a Canadian to death, in apparent retaliation for its arrest of Huawei's CFO

CCTV/Reuters TV via REUTERS

A still image of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg in court in Dalian, China, where he was sentenced with the death penalty for drug smuggling, in January 2019.

• China sentenced a Canadian man, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death over drug smuggling offenses in January, in what was widely seen as retaliation for Canada's arrest and detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
• At an appeal hearing for Schellenberg, a court in Dalian, northeastern China, confirmed on Thursday that it would go ahead with his punishment, and said it would announce his sentence at a later date.
• It comes as Meng continues to fight extradition to the US.
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China took another step toward executing a Canadian man over drug offenses, in what has been regarded as retaliation over Canada's arrest and ongoing detention of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou.

The Dalian Intermediate People's Court in Liaoning, a province in northeastern China, sentenced 36-year-old Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to death in January, in a major escalation of the diplomatic feud between the two countries.

The same court heard an appeal for Schellenberg on Thursday. It adjourned the trial but said it would "select a day or time to pronounce the sentence," Agence France-Press reported. Schellenberg has consistently maintained his innocence.

Chris Wattie/Reuters; Huawei; Nicolas Asfouri/Pool Photo via AP

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Schellenberg was detained in 2014, and sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of drug smuggling last November. A Dalian court bolstered his charge to international drug smuggling a month later, saying that his punishment had been too light.

Beijing and Ottawa have engaged in seemingly tit-for-tat measures since Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei and daughter of its founder, at the US' request last December.

The US Department of Justice has since charged Huawei, Meng, and two affiliates with bank and wire fraud, stealing trade secrets, and obstructing justice in two separate cases, saying that the company evaded US sanctions on Iran. Meng's lawyers say she is innocent.

Read more: Huawei is accused of attempting to copycat a T-Mobile robot, and the charges read like a comical spy movie

Reuters

A woman walks past a sign board of Huawei at CES Asia 2016 in Shanghai. The US Department of Justice charged Huawei, Meng, and two affiliates with bank and wire fraud, stealing trade secrets, and obstructing justice earlier this year.

Days after Meng's arrest China detained two Canadians - former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor - on vague allegations that they threatened Chinese national security.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have described the detentions as "arbitrary" and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called them "unlawful."

China's ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye, appeared to confirm that China is detaining the two Canadians because of Meng's detention, referring to it as "self-defense" in a January op-ed in Canada's The Hill Times.

Read more: China accuses Canada of 'white supremacy' over the detention of Huawei CFO

Associated Press

Meng leaves her home in Vancouver, Canada, alongside her private security detail to go to court on Wednesday.

Meng remains under house arrest in her Vancouver home, and continues to fight extradition to the US.

In a document presented to the British Columbia Supreme Court on Wednesday, Meng's lawyers said they intend to seek a stay of extradition proceedings, citing Trump's comments in December that he would intervene in her case if it would help close a trade deal with China.

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