BEIJING: China executed a Briton on Tuesday caught smuggling heroin, prompting a British outcry over what it said was the lack of any mental health assessment.
Beijing called the British criticism groundless interference in its judicial sovereignty.
Relatives of Akmal Shaikh and the British government had appealed for clemency, arguing the former businessman suffered from bipolar disorder, or manic depression.
China's Supreme Court rejected the appeal, saying there was insufficient evidence of mental illness.
Shaikh was the first European citizen executed in China since 1951, Western rights groups say.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the execution, carried out in Urumqi, capital of the far-west region of Xinjiang, saying he was 'appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted'.
'I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken,' he said in a statement.
British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis summoned China's ambassador in London, Fu Ying, to protest at the execution.
'I made clear that the execution of Mr Shaikh was totally unacceptable and that China had failed in its basic human rights responsibilities in this case...,' Lewis said in a statement after what he described as a 'difficult conversation'.
China rejected the British criticism.
'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 criticised China's stance on his mental health. -Reuters
Beijing called the British criticism groundless interference in its judicial sovereignty.
Relatives of Akmal Shaikh and the British government had appealed for clemency, arguing the former businessman suffered from bipolar disorder, or manic depression.
China's Supreme Court rejected the appeal, saying there was insufficient evidence of mental illness.
Shaikh was the first European citizen executed in China since 1951, Western rights groups say.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the execution, carried out in Urumqi, capital of the far-west region of Xinjiang, saying he was 'appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted'.
'I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken,' he said in a statement.
British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis summoned China's ambassador in London, Fu Ying, to protest at the execution.
'I made clear that the execution of Mr Shaikh was totally unacceptable and that China had failed in its basic human rights responsibilities in this case...,' Lewis said in a statement after what he described as a 'difficult conversation'.
China rejected the British criticism.
'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 criticised China's stance on his mental health. -Reuters
