China Daily / Reuters

Drug lord Naw Kham is taken from a Chinese jail to be executed on Friday.

BEIJING – A notorious gang leader and drug lord from Myanmar was among four foreigners executed in China Friday, marking the first time Beijing has extradited, tried and put to death foreign nationals. 

Naw Kham and three accomplices from Thailand and Laos were given a lethal injection in Yunnan’s provincial capital, Kunming, late Friday afternoon.

The four were found guilty last year and sentenced Wednesday for the October 2011 hijacking of two cargo ships and the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River.

But Beijing’s decision to live broadcast the final moments of the men as they waited in their cells followed by their walk to waiting police cars to the execution facility has drawn criticism across China’s websphere.

The four were additionally found guilty of smuggling drugs, kidnapping and hijacking cargo ships in the “Golden Triangle,” a section of territory that overlaps parts of Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos that accounts for much of Asia’s opium and methamphetamines production.

Beijing contends that, while Naw Kham masterminded the hijacking of the two Chinese cargo ships, he also colluded with Thai soldiers who may have been responsible for the slaying of the sailors. 

Thai authorities are investigating nine of their soldiers alleged to be involved in the incident.

The capture of Naw Kham – who was at the center of the region's bustling drug trade – was a coup for Chinese police and anti-drug ministries, which reportedly spent a year tracking the infamous smuggler.

The search was unprecedented as it marked the first time that Chinese forces were seen actively searching for foreign national criminal suspects outside of China’s borders.

Task force
The importance Beijing placed on the search was underscored by a report last month by Chinese state media that revealed a task force set up to capture Naw Kham had at one point considered a controversial plan to use an unmanned drone to bomb a suspected hideout of Naw Kham’s gang in northeastern Myanmar.   

The scheme was scrapped after the order to capture Naw Kham alive and bring him to trial was reiterated from senior leaders.

Naw Kham’s capture and subsequent trial was given significant coverage in Chinese state media. In the run up to Friday’s execution, long reports detailing the gang’s crimes, celebrating the diligent work of China’s security forces and explaining the method of execution were repeatedly played on Chinese broadcaster CCTV.

CCTV also ran two hours of live coverage leading up to the executions, showing the men’s final moments as they were led from their prison cells to execution facility. Despite rampant rumors and speculation that the state broadcaster was planning on showing the execution live, it ended its live coverage after the men were driven away.  

The magnitude of Naw Kham’s capture and execution was never underplayed, with one CCTV reporter noting that officials there were comparing Naw Kham’s case to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

The comparison carries an undeniable message from the country’s ruling Communist Party to its people: China can and will look out for its nationals both at home and abroad.

But many in China found the live broadcast of the men’s final moments in poor taste and an uncomfortable reminder of show executions from China’s turbulent period during the Cultural Revolution.

“Even though they are deserved to die, these criminals have dignity too,” wrote one user on China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo, “The Cultural Revolution is back.”

“China is a country without humanity,” lamented another.

“CCTV is as cruel as these criminals,” one user bluntly noted. 

Mo Shaoping, a prominent criminal lawyer and advisor at the Central University of Finance and Economics Law School, argued that Beijing’s decision to broadcast the prisoners’ final moments was less about striking a nationalist chord and more about showing how the country has improved its handling of the death penalty – a sensitive topic for China’s leadership.

“China has made progress in how it deals with the death penalty,” Mo said. “showing everything live helps people see that prisoners are being treated humanely in their final moments.”

Indeed, much of the commentary on CCTV as cameras rolled on Naw Kham in his cell discussed how he had been given a full doctor’s inspection and that officers in the room had made small chat and offered cigarettes to the kingpin to help him relax.

They also noted that Naw had actually gained weight and looked healthier after months under Chinese supervision.

Mo also noted that the use of lethal injection mean that potential donor organs could not be harvested from the men, addressing another common criticism of China’s previous handling of state executions.

NBC News Le Li contributed to this report.

BEIJING – When the Philippines took the much-criticized decision to boycott the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honoring a top Chinese dissident last December, the official rationale was that it was meant to help save the lives of Filipinos facing the death penalty in China over drug-trafficking crimes.

But nevertheless, China’s Supreme Court still ruled for the execution next week of three convicted Filipino drug couriers – setting off a high-stakes diplomatic game to see if Beijing will show mercy and return Manila’s political favor in kind.

“It is time for them to demonstrate their pronounced statements of improved or closer bilateral ties. This will be a test,” declared Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who faces mounting domestic pressure over the controversy.

“No one is privileged to transcend the law,” declared the Chinese embassy in Manila, calling the death sentence “the final verdict by the Chinese judicial authorities.”

‘Scourge of drugs’
China maintains a draconian drug control policy, to fight what officials would describe as the “scourge that has wrought havoc to the Chinese nation in history,” alluding to the Opium Wars of the past.

China carried out the execution of a British national convicted of smuggling 4,000 grams of heroin in Dec. 2009, despite then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s own plea for clemency.

Under China’s law, trafficking more than 50 grams of heroin is punishable by death.

The three Filipino death-row inmates, two female and one male, were separately convicted of smuggling between 4,000 to more than 6,000 grams of heroin into China. They reportedly served as “mules” for international drug-smuggling syndicates.

“Drugs are a worldwide problem and we have to respect their (China’s) sovereignty,” Aquino told the Philippine media.
But he appealed for “reciprocity” and a stay of execution, citing that the Philippines has not executed Chinese nationals found guilty of similar offenses since the country has abolished capital punishment.

“We are not asking for exoneration,” added a Philippine foreign affairs official. Manila is hoping for a reprieve or commutation to life imprisonment.

Judicial vs. strategic interests?
Government officials in Manila do not disagree that drug offenses need to be severely punished, but they are looking at their plea for clemency through the lens of their strategic alliance with China.

“We do not question the decision of the Chinese courts in meting [out] the death penalty to the accused,” said Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay, but he is still planning on traveling to Beijing Friday to plead Manila's case on humanitarian grounds.

“There is no legal remedy,” a Philippine senator acknowledged, adding that this should serve as a lesson to avoid involvement in the illegal drug trade.

But Aquino said he will continue “last-ditch” diplomatic efforts to avoid the death penalty, calling his request “very, very reasonable.” He added, “And we have improved bilateral ties with China. This will be a test.”

Last December, the Chinese government expressed “appreciation” for Manila’s Nobel Peace Prize boycott, which triggered “shock and disappointment” among human rights groups. 

As a further gesture in China’s favor, Manila recently extradited 14 Taiwanese accused of criminal fraud to Beijing, not to Taipei, infuriating the Taiwanese government and putting the interests of some 80,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan at risk.

Manila has “jumped the gun” on the issue of China-Taiwan unification, according to one commentator. 

Aquino has requested “a phone conversation” with Chinese President Hu Jintao, but so far no response.

It remains to be seen how the executions, if carried out, will impact public opinion and the ties between China and the neighboring strategic archipelago.