1. The following are excerpts from an article dated April 29th 2015 under the headline "Which countries have the death penalty for drug smuggling?" and subheading "Thirty-two, mainly in Asia and the Middle East—but only half a dozen really carry it out". (Begin excerpts) ....Thirty-two countries, plus Gaza, impose the death penalty for drug smuggling, according to Harm Reduction International (HRI), a drug-focused NGO. All but four (America, Cuba, Sudan and South Sudan) are in Asia or the Middle East. But in most of these countries executions are extremely rare. Fourteen, including America and Cuba, have the death penalty on the books for drug traffickers but do not apply it in practice. Only in six countries—China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore—are drug offenders known to be routinely executed, according to HRI’s most recent analysis. (Indonesia will soon join this list, following its recent executions.) In Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria the data are murky.... (End excerpts) Source: https://www.economist.com/the-econo...ies-have-the-death-penalty-for-drug-smuggling 2. The following is a list of top 10 countries with death penalty for drugs 2016 rankings: (a) Malaysia (b) China (c) Vietnam (d) Iran (e) Thailand (f) Dubai (g) Saudi Arabia (h) Singapore (i) Cambodia (j) Indonesia Source: https://www.whichcountry.co/top-10-countries-with-death-penalty-for-drugs/ 3. The following are excerpts from a January 15, 2019 news report headlined "Canada reacts to death sentence given to citizen in China". (Begin excerpts) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused China of acting “arbitrarily” in handing down a death sentence to a Canadian citizen over drug smuggling.... In reaction to the ruling, Trudeau expressed “extreme concern,” accusing Beijing of acting “arbitrarily.” “It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be to all our international friends and allies, that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply (the) death penalty... as in this case,” he told reporters in Ottawa on Monday. China has strict rules regarding narcotics crimes. Anyone found with more than 50 grams of a controlled substance can face the death penalty.... (End excerpts) Source: https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019...rudeau-China-death-penalty-arbitrarily-Huawei 4. Trudeau gave the impression that China's death sentence on a Canadian is not only the first death penalty for narcotics crimes but also arbitrarily applies only to a Canadian in retaliation for the arrest of the Huawei CFO. As shown in the first two articles, China has been imposing the death penalty for drug smuggling on all nationalities long before the arrest of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada. When smaller countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia, won't yield to pressure from Western countries, how can Canada and "all its international friends and allies" expect a big country to waver in the face of outside pressure?
