Chinese court rejects appeal by Canadian who was sentenced to death in a drug case after Huawei executive was detained

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court has rejected a Canadian drug convict’s appeal of a death sentence in what appeared to be an effort to increase pressure on Canada to release a detained Huawei executive. The Canadian government condemned the ruling and appealed to China to grant the man clemency. Robert Schellenberg was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November 2018 for drug smuggling. He was abruptly resentenced to death in January 2019 following the arrest of Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer. Meng Wanzhou was arrested Dec. 1, 2018, in Vancouver on U.S. charges related to possible dealings with Iran. A Canadian judge will hear final arguments in her extradition case in the next few weeks.