Photo: The Canadian Press

A man takes photos near red flags on Tiananmen Square before the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, Sunday, March 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ng Han Guan

UPDATE 3:05 p.m.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says China executed four Canadians in recent months.

China's embassy in Ottawa confirmed Wednesday that Beijing executed Canadian citizens earlier this year.

The embassy says China has solid and sufficient evidence and the facts of the crimes committed by the Canadians are clear.

Ottawa confirms the Canadians executed did not include Abbotsford, B.C. native Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling by a Chinese court in 2019.

Joly says the families have asked the government not to provide any details of the identity of the four individuals.

She says this is an issue she has been "personally" following for months and that both she and former prime minister Justin Trudeau asked China for leniency in all of the cases.

ORIGINAL 11:35 a.m.

China's embassy in Ottawa is confirming that Beijing executed Canadian citizens earlier this year.

It's not clear how many Canadians were executed, although the Canadian government says they did not include Abbotsford, B.C. native Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling by a Chinese court in 2019.

In a media statement, the Chinese embassy says the death penalty cases involving Canadian nationals were based on "solid and sufficient" evidence, adding Beijing has "zero tolerance" for drug crime.

Global Affairs Canada says it "repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels" and has reached out to the families of those executed.

The department says it "strongly condemns China's use of the death penalty," adding that it violates "basic human dignity."

Beijing responded by saying that Canada should "respect the rule of law and China’s judicial sovereignty" and "stop making irresponsible remarks."

The Globe and Mail first reported on the executions Wednesday morning.