World Reaction to China's Execution of Mentally Ill Briton – China News
www.smh.com.au — This article from the Sydney Herald summarizes much of the West's after-the-fact reaction to China's execution of a British drug mule who many say had a history of mental illness.
The name of this country is China. If you come here, you are subject to the laws of the Chinese. Nothing Aussies, Brits, Americans; North,Central or South, say has any bearing on these proceedings. This is as it should be.
Reverse the situation - had the offense occurred in the U.K, and if the condemned man had been Chinese would Britain have cared what the China government thought about the case?
Further, it was never proved by anyone, including his family, that the man was indeed, mentally ill. No family member had been in contact with him for more than two years.
Bipolar? Did he seek medical attention for this condition? If not, why? If he were bipolar, did he take his medication? If he had medication and did not take it...
Anyway, bipolar is just another invention by doctors and drug companies to help people to avoid having to take responsibility for their own lives.
And the best for last. I've yet to hear one word about the six pounds of heroin that would have been distributed to hundreds, maybe thousands, of Chinese whose lives would have been negatively impacted by the contents of the suitcase illegally carried into China by Akmal Shaikh.
Death by lethal injection may have been too good for him.
Are you seeking a 'friend of China' stamp in your passport, wdbox?
Are you seeking an 'enemy of China' stamp in your passport, stuart?
The thing is, wdbox, I only need offer legitimate criticism and opinion on China to be branded an 'enemy' by CCP acolytes.
But one needs to toe the party line to be called a 'friend'. Which, in truth, makes a person no friend at all.
I don't want to be an enemy of the Chinese people but give me an "enemy of the CCP" badge and I'll gladly wear it!
Here we go with the labels. Surely, stuart, you can do better than this?
I already have. There was no label.
I just don't want to see anymore stories on this that reference the Opium Wars.
I'm going to sidestep this little debate and point out that I think there was another motive at play. IPR. The lyrics to "Come Litte Rabbit" are eerily similar to the 08 Olympic slogan. Clearly there is a vast conspiracy of international songwriters and sloganeers at play here.
Okay, I managed to avoid entering into the above debate for all of one minute. It is China and it is their laws but it's perfectly legitimate to criticize a country for their enforcement of them, just as Bush should've been excoriated (and hopefully it was, it was a while ago now) for making fun of the retarded/mentally challenged (or whatever the preferred nomenclature now is) person that was executed in TX while he was governor, not only for his bad taste but for executing someone who had proven seriously mentally challenged. It's true that evidence of this guy's actual mental is totally unsubstantiated, however, the belief that "Come Little Rabbit" was a good song shows that something was wrong with the guy.
Fredster, if the first article I have submitted, from Michael White in 'The Guardian', ever comes online I apologize, as it did have a reference to the Opium Wars, but when i submitted it yesterday there wasn't the plethora of stories and in fighting that there is now. Personally, I still can't get over the poor boy who froze to death after being forgotten about standing out in the cold.
No worries :) I'm just being grumpy.
My modest contribution to this discussion is this story I've just submitted: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100020870/prostitute-boy...
I respect her opinion far more than that of Gordon Brown, to name one.
Besides, some of the better informed and most intelligent people in the world just happen to be prostitutes.
Kudos,Alex.
I see a lot of people justifying the execution based on these arguments; 1) China has its own laws and anyone in China is subject to them, 2) Opium Wars back in the 1800s, 3) drug dealing kills people. To me, only #3 holds any water.
As for #1 China's courts are not independent. They are controlled by the CCP at all levels (and the CCP openly admits this). The CCP or its local potentates can do anything they want with court rulings. Plus, there is a sense of universal human rights acknowledged by the UN (UN criticized China in this Briton's case) and countries can criticize other countries' justice system. US is often criticized for our death penalty and that's fine by us. As for #2, what happened more than 100 years ago has no relevance today and cannot be used to justify wrongs today. As for #3, yes drug running kills people and perps should be punished severely, but not killed by the state - especially if they are low level mules. Put them in jail for a long time and try to turn their lives around. The death penalty should be saved for the worst of the worst - the kingpins, and the hopelessly evil. Certainly should not be used on a man that may well have been mentally ill. Even China's own law says insanity should be taken into account. But then the CCP does whatever it wants to its own people and to others who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in China and branded an enemy of China.