Scott Morrison said Australian authorities have been in contact with China regarding his case. (File)
Sydney:
The Australian Prime Minister expressed concern Monday after an Australian man was sentenced to death in a case that could exacerbate tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
A Chinese court revealed on Saturday that Karm Gilespie, a Sydney-based actor who became an investment coach, was sentenced to death earlier this week for drug trafficking – after being secretly detained for seven years.
The phrase raised concerns that it could add to the increasingly troubled diplomatic and trade relations between Australia and China, its main trading partner.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australian authorities were aware of the arrest and had been in contact with their Chinese counterparts on several occasions regarding his case.
“The government and I are very sad and worried that an Australian citizen, Mr. Karm Gilespie, has been sentenced to death in China,” he said.
Chinese state media has said that Gilespie, in his mid-50s, was arrested on New Years Eve in 2013 at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport in northwest Hong Kong with more than 7.5 kilograms (16 pounds) of methamphetamine in his checked baggage.
His arrest has not been made public and friends have told Australian media that they were confused by his sudden disappearance.
Gilespie’s family released a statement on Monday asking his acquaintances to “refrain from speculating about his current situation, which we believe does not help him.”
“Our family is very saddened by the situation. We will not make any public comments and will not ask the media to respect our privacy in these difficult times,” they said in a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.
The sentence could further damage the increasingly troubled relationship between Beijing and Canberra, with tensions rising recently after China reacted furiously to Australia’s call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Beijing later imposed tariffs on Australian products and warned Chinese tourists and students against visiting because of racism Down Under.
Commerce Minister Simon Birmingham said on Sunday that Australians “should not necessarily” view Gilespie’s conviction as further retaliation from China.
But conservative commentators were quick to make the connection.
Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of the Australian newspaper, said the sentence “must be viewed as Beijing continuing its fierce and increasingly vicious punishments against Australia”.
Last year, China sentenced two Canadian nationals to death for drug trafficking during a diplomatic escalation with Canada over the arrest of Huawei chief Meng Wanzhou.
So far, Canadian attempts to ask for leniency for Robert Schellenberg and Fan Wei have failed.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
