Nations called on to respect China's judicial sovereignty

China denounced Canada on Thursday for having rallied a handful of countries to make irresponsible remarks about China's lawful dealing in the cases of two Canadians, and it urged the countries to respect its judicial sovereignty.

Canadian national Michael Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday for espionage and illegal provision of State secrets abroad, a day after the death penalty of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg for drug smuggling was upheld by a court of appeal.

Chinese courts have publicly pronounced the judgments in accordance with law on the basis of the trials and investigation of the crimes, and these two defendants full legal rights have been fully guaranteed, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

Canada accused China of "arbitrary detention" of Spavor and "arbitrarily" applying the death sentence to Schellenberg. It called for Spavor's release and for Schellenberg to be granted clemency. These claims have been supported by the United Kingdom, the European Union and some other countries.

Hua said that Canada's criticism of the two cases and the countries' disregard of the facts and confusion of right with wrong, go against the spirit of the rule of law.

Regardless of the nationality of the criminals, the judicial organs strictly handled their cases in accordance with the law and treated them equally, she said, adding that no foreign identity can shield them from the law.

While claiming to be a champion of the "rule of law" and "judicial independence", Canada blatantly interferes in the independent and lawful handling of cases by Chinese judicial organs, she said.

The interference trampled on the spirit that everyone is equal before the law and fully exposed Canada's hypocrisy in adopting "double standards" and its true intention of politicizing legal issues, she said.

Attempts at engaging in "megaphone diplomacy" and forming small cliques to suppress China have failed in the past and will never succeed in the future, she added.

US bill denounced

In another statement on Thursday, Hua said that Beijing strongly protested to Washington about a bill passed by the United States Senate to help regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, calling the move "a political manipulation by a handful of anti-China politicians".

With only a few senators present, the US Senate approved on Aug 6 with so-called unanimous consent a bill that called on the US State Department to submit a plan to help Taiwan regain its observer status at the World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body.

Hua said this bill gravely violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, severely runs counter to international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and grossly interferes in China's internal affairs.

"China deplores and firmly rejects the US Senate's move," she said.

According to resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the WHA, the participation of China's Taiwan region in WHO events must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle.

Noting that the Chinese central government attaches great importance to the health and well-being of compatriots in the Taiwan region, Hua said that appropriate arrangements for the Taiwan region's participation in global health affairs have been made under the precondition of abiding by the one-China principle.

"We urge the US Congress to fully recognize the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan question," Hua said, urging that it refrain from helping the Taiwan region expand so-called "international space" or sending any wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces.