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China and Britain clash over heroin case execution
Brown condemned the execution, carried out in the far-west region of Xinjiang, in strong words that may raise diplomatic temperatures over the case.
“I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms, and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted,” he said in a statement issued by the British Foreign Office.
“I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken.”
China was just as determined in its defense of the execution.
“Nobody has the right to speak ill of China’s judicial sovereignty,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. “We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition over the groundless British accusations.”
Shaikh was executed by injection, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. His family said it was “stunned and disappointed” and criticized China’s stance on his mental health.
“We are astonished at suggestions that Akmal himself should have provided evidence of his own fragile state of mind,” they said in a statement.
Shaikh was the first European citizen to be executed in China since 1951, Western rights groups say. China executes more people than any other country, with about 1,718 executions in 2008, far surpassing Iran at 346 and the United States at 111, according to Amnesty International. China does not release an official count of its executions.
The case could harden public opinion in Britain against China. It could also rile Chinese resentment over what Beijing often calls “interference” in its internal affairs, mindful of humiliating defeats by Britain during the Opium Wars of the 1800s.
“We hope that the British side can view this matter rationally, and not create new obstacles in bilateral relations,” Jiang said.
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