China's ambassador in London, Fu Ying was summoned to the British Foreign Office to explain the execution of British citizen Akmal Shaikh, who was convicted of drug smuggling in that country.
53-year-old Shaikh, who was caught carrying up to 4,030 grams of heroin at the Urumqi international airport on September 12, 2007, was killed by lethal injection Tuesday.
Shaikh had denied any wrongdoing and his family said he was mentally ill. His family and the British government had repeatedly requested for clemency.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was appalled and condemned the execution "in the strongest terms."
The European Union also condemned the execution, and expressed regret that Beijing had ignored calls for his sentence to be commuted.
But the criticism sparked irritation in China, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu telling reporters that "No one has the right to comment on China's judicial sovereignty."
She urged the British government to "avoid harming China-UK relations."
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