China Executes French National for Drug Trafficking

China has executed a French national convicted of drug trafficking, prompting strong condemnation from Paris over the handling of the case and renewed calls for the global abolition of capital punishment.

Chan Thao Phoumy, 62, was put to death in the southern city of Guangzhou, according to a statement from the French Foreign Ministry released late on Saturday. The ministry did not specify the exact date of the execution but noted it occurred despite repeated appeals for clemency on humanitarian grounds. A Chinese court had sentenced Phoumy to death in 2010 following his conviction for involvement in a large-scale synthetic drug operation.

Phoumy, a naturalized French citizen, was among 89 suspects arrested in 2005 for trafficking crystal methamphetamine. Initially sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007, his penalty was upgraded to death three years later for his role in a network that produced, transported and distributed drugs worth approximately 100 million yuan, or about 15 million dollars. Chinese authorities maintain a strict threshold for capital punishment in drug cases, typically applying it to trafficking involving 50 grams or more of heroin or methamphetamine, though...