Ottawa condemns China for executing Canadians as Beijing points to drug crime [Video]

China’s embassy in Ottawa says Beijing executed Canadian citizens earlier this year.

“The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient,” the embassy said in a media statement Wednesday.

“The Chinese judicial authorities have handled the cases in strict accordance with the law, and have fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned.”

Global Affairs Canada and the Chinese embassy both declined to say how many Canadians were executed or report the names of those killed. Ottawa did confirm they did not include Abbotsford, B.C. native Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling by a Chinese court in 2019.

“Global Affairs Canada can confirm it is aware that, earlier this year, Canadians were executed in the People’s Republic of China,” the department wrote.

“Canada strongly condemns China’s use of …