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China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

washingtonpost.com

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Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#41

Post by Double_a_92 »

smcl wrote: post #11
CydeWeys wrote: post #4

At this point I think I'm too afraid to ever go to China. You can't get justice there, and you can be swept up into some stupid diplomatic spat. Don't they realize how short-sighted this is? This is incredibly harmful to tourism.

I don't think that tourism is as much of a big deal to China as you think, and additionally I've got a feeling that most potential tourists wouldn't be aware of this news item or could dismiss it as "those people probably did something stupid, it won't apply to me"

> "those people probably did something stupid, it won't apply to me"

To be fair, he did attempt to smuggle "methamphetamines to Australia in pellets stuffed inside tires".

It's not like they picked some random foreigner and accused him of something.

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#42

Post by Insanity »

fermienrico wrote: post #37
mikeash wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was already a convicted drug trafficker. I don’t see any indication that his original 15-year sentence was improper. It is possible that he was falsely convicted, of course, but I don’t know that this is more likely in China than elsewhere. Suddenly changing his sentence to death is rather suspicious, but at least for me it doesn’t make a huge difference compared to a 15-year sentence. Random anecdote: I just got…

I’ve always had a pleasant experience returning home. I travel 200 days in a year and never have I had a bad experience during US Immigration. In fact, I look forward to “Welcome home” from an officer although now it’s more expedited with the automated passport control and they hardly take more than 20 seconds to let you go. I am curious of your bad experience, can you tell us more? Edit: I do not look like a typical…

Maybe it is different when you don't _look_ like you're a US citizen.

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#44

Post by Blaiz0r »

est31 wrote: post #32
smcl wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that tourism is as much of a big deal to China as you think, and additionally I've got a feeling that most potential tourists wouldn't be aware of this news item or could dismiss it as "those people probably did something stupid, it won't apply to me"

When the protests were in egypt, tourists stopped visiting the country. This had a major impact on the economy. So this kind of stuff can definitely have an impact. The situation in China is different though. Egypts economy is very dependent on tourism, while China's isn't. On the other hand, country wide protests with anarchy are a different thing from a government killing one individual in some shitty trade war.

Most tourism in China probably comes from within China.

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#45

Post by Nasrudith »

mdpopescu wrote: post #12
redleggedfrog wrote: post #5

It's interesting to me how much China is behaving very much like a "gang", like the Crips or Bloods from the 80's. "You take one of ours, we'll grab some of yours." Doesn't matter what the reasons for the grabs are, it's just posturing. It's sad when you're international relations are at the level of hoodlums.

That's always the case. Interpreting international relations as spats between gang members (or 8 year-olds) clarifies a lot of things.

Reminds me of the sarcastic and cynical inversion - referring to gangs as baby governments. Historically that isn't wrong given that strongmen charging protection fees (by consent or coercion) and making an example of any "bandits" harming his income by robbing them or harming their paying subjects. This creates the monopoly on violence and things can progress from there for better or worse.

Given an apocalyptic collapse and enough time you might see the Crip Nation eventually become literal.

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#46

Post by Erlich_Bachman »

mikeash wrote: post #40
abbe_k wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think there is a big difference between 15 years in prison and the death penalty? You still have a lot of time left in life after 15 years so it is major difference.

Not really. In terms of “this has completely ruined my life,” 15 years in a Chinese prison would rate about 9.8 out of 10 for me, while death is 10 out of 10. In terms of balancing the benefits of travel versus the risk of law enforcement misconduct, that additional 0.2 out of 10 makes no noticeable difference.

That is a very uncommon opinion.

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#47

Post by gpm »

mikeash wrote: post #28
CydeWeys wrote: post #4

At this point I think I'm too afraid to ever go to China. You can't get justice there, and you can be swept up into some stupid diplomatic spat. Don't they realize how short-sighted this is? This is incredibly harmful to tourism.

He was already a convicted drug trafficker. I don’t see any indication that his original 15-year sentence was improper. It is possible that he was falsely convicted, of course, but I don’t know that this is more likely in China than elsewhere. Suddenly changing his sentence to death is rather suspicious, but at least for me it doesn’t make a huge difference compared to a 15-year sentence. Random anecdote: I just got…

He was a convicted drug dealer, that's little comfort when other people like the random teacher [0] and entrepreneur [1] they arrested were not.

[0] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-sarah-mciver-detained...

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-officials-meet-wit...

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#48

Post by roboys »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #26
dqpb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's warfare.

Put like this, it sounds like repaying for opium.

The #1 economy in the world was taken to its knees by US, French, German, and UK governments and private industry pumping opium into China.

Overtaking China would not have been possible economically without this component of the takedown.

I expect WW3 will erupt before the "drug attack" avenue is allowed again into China.

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#49

Post by mdpopescu »

fermienrico wrote: post #22
mdpopescu wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's always the case. Interpreting international relations as spats between gang members (or 8 year-olds) clarifies a lot of things.

I’d take a step deeper and realize that this is glorified tribalism that’s stuck in humans. We evolved into a civilized species but the idea of territorial tribalism is embedded deep into our very psyche.

Yeah, but it can be fought. I was never a nationalist, but I didn't realize how ingrained a lot of habits are until I started traveling through Europe. I've once read that "weirdoes start 10 miles from home" - well, it's not that bad but it's still amazing to realize that yes, people in different countries are still people.

Re: China sentences Canadian man to death in drug case linked to Huawei row

#50

Post by johannkokos »

I am confused by this article. It says, "Schellenberg was arrested in 2014 and received his original sentence in 2016 in a case that went unnoticed."

But according to the Chinese court[link 1], he was first sentenced for 15 years in jail on 2018-11-20. Robert appealed to high court. On 2018-12-29, the high court decided the original sentence was too light and asked the intermediate court for a new trial.

link 1: http://court.dl.gov.cn/info/122_138614.vm

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