Foreign and Military Affairs

'Settle' differences, Britain urged

By Ai Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-06 08:11

China yesterday urged the United Kingdom to "properly settle" differences that arose after the execution of a British drug trafficker late last year, and "avoid impairment of bilateral relations".

Addressing the first regular press briefing of the new year, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: "The two countries may hold different opinions on the issue, but we should follow the principle of mutual respect, and refrain from damaging our relationship."

Jiang said that no one had the right to point a finger at the judiciary, which she said was an independent authority whose sovereignty should be respected.

Jiang also expressed dissatisfaction over a statement released by the European Union last Tuesday, which had condemned the execution in the "strongest terms."

Fifty-three year old Akmal Shaikh from London was executed by lethal injection on December 29 in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, for smuggling more than 4kg of heroin into China in 2007.

A section of the British media, and many politicians in the United Kingdom and the European Union, insisted that the drug trafficker was a mentally ill person, a claim that China's courts turned down due to insufficient proof.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "appalled" by the execution. His cabinet ministers and some opposition leaders all repeatedly gave similar statements.

Brown also delayed a visit to China, which was scheduled at the beginning of the year.

Jiang yesterday reiterated that the case was handled as per Chinese law, and that Akmal Shaikh's rights had been fully respected and that he had been properly treated throughout the trial.

Although the case might strain relations between China and Britain for a while, the two powers still had potential to cooperate in future, Chinese experts said.

"The big picture for China and the UK's future relationship will not change," Wu Baiyi, a European studies expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told China Daily.

The two countries have maintained sound and stable diplomatic ties in recent years and the trend will continue, Wu said.

"Sino-UK bilateral ties have been the most stable in Europe these past years because the British government's policy toward China has been efficient and beneficial," Wu said.

"There are differences in the judicial systems of the two countries, but the handling of the case according to Chinese law is correct," Wu said, adding the law must be followed despite its lack of clear understanding by the West.

Times Online said on December 30 that sovereign states had the right to execute a heroin smuggler, and "China is not alone in claiming it".

"The British government's complaints are natural, especially now that things are not going smoothly for their prime minister and the general elections are due soon," Wu said.

Wu's colleague Zhao Junjie said Brown was also under domestic pressure to issue such a statement.

Zhao stressed that the West's interpretation of the execution was different from that of China's, due to the different legal systems. "It is not possible for the world to have a unified legal system. California also allows for the death penalty, so why can't we?"

Among widespread protests, the Daily Mail and Times Online of the UK have both supported China's stance. The latter asked Britons to "spare a little moral opprobrium for the people who ruin young Chinese lives by running drugs."