‘Mobile death vans’ are said to be used in China to speed up the execution process in what has become a ‘conveyor belt’ with so many people in the country put to death
China’s execution of four Canadians has put the spotlight on its “conveyor belt” process where “mobile death vans” are said to be used due to high numbers being killed.
Canada reacted angrily to the news that four of its citizens had received the death penalty in recent months, with Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly saying she and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had asked for clemency in the drug-related accusations involving the dual citizens.
Beijing’s embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes and noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship. “We strongly condemn the executions,” Ms Joly told reporters in Ottawa. “I asked personally for leniency … They were all dual citizens.”
China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined. Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have been introduced in recent years.
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The conveyor belt system of executions has been condemned with Chinese courts using the death penalty for even non-violent crimes such as corruption. It is claimed they use “mobile death vans” to speed up the process in eerie similarities to Nazi Germany.
Inside are believed to be beds to which the convict is strapped and a lethal injection is administered by a police official, with the whole process record. Amnesty International condemned the executions and noted that China executed thousands of people in 2023.
China does not share its figures on how many people it executes whether it be by firing squad, lethal injections or in the “death” vans. The use of the vans makes the process quicker as it means that prisoners don’t need to be moved to specific execution centres.
And a Minghui study into the persecution of the Falun Gong in China says they have been used since 2004, and also said body parts are harvested. “In the eyes of CCP officials, the biggest advantage of the execution vehicle is the convenience of taking organs from criminals for profit: their eyes, kidneys, livers, pancreas, lung and all other useful body parts, are harvested,” it stated.
There has also been criticism from human rights groups over the prosecution system with courts having a 99.9% conviction rate. According to a report published in 2021, China’s Penal Code of 1997 – which is still in force today – has 46 crimes punishable by death, including 24 violent crimes and 22 non-violent crimes.
Meanwhile the families of the Canadians executed in China have asked for the identities of the four individuals to not be revealed, said Ms Joly. Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said they continue to provide consular assistance to families and requested that the media respect their privacy.
She said Ottawa continues to advocate for clemency for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling. “China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes,” a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said. “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 spokesperson said Beijing “fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned,” and urged Canada’s government to “stop making irresponsible remarks.”
The two countries have some tensions. China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports earlier this month, after Canada imposed duties in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminium products. The tariffs add to global trade tensions amid rounds of tariff announcements by the United States, China, Canada and Mexico.
“China is sending us a message that we have to take steps if we want to see an improvement in the relationship,” said a former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques. Ian Brodie, a former chief of staff to ex-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, posted on social media that it turns out “agricultural tariffs weren’t the worst part of the PRC response to EV tariffs.”
And opposition Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong said “executing a number of Canadians in short order is unprecedented, and is clearly a sign that Beijing has no intention of improving relations with Canada.” China is Canada’s second largest trading partner, but relations been bad since Canadian authorities in 2018 arrested a former Huawei executive who the US had charged with fraud.
China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company’s founder, on a U.S. extradition request. They were sent back to Canada in 2021, the same day Meng returned to China after reaching a deal with U.S. authorities in her case. Many countries called China’s action “hostage politics,” while China described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China’s economic and technological development.
