China executes French citizen convicted of drug trafficking

China confirmed on Sunday the execution of a French national sentenced ​to death in 2010 for drug trafficking, saying ‌it did not discriminate against defendants on the basis of nationality, a day after Paris criticised the court's handling of ​the case. The Chinese embassy in France made the ​remarks in a brief statement on the execution ⁠of 62-year-old Chan Thao Phoumy after a 20-year stint ​in jail. On Saturday, the French foreign ministry said it "particularly regretted" ​that Chan's defence was not allowed to attend the court's final hearing in violation of his rights. China, one of the world's ​toughest enforcers of laws against drug trafficking, has occasionally ​executed foreign nationals convicted of smuggling large amounts across its borders, ‌but ⁠does not release statistics on executions. Read: China moves to regulate digital humans, bans addictive services for children Chan, born in the southern city of Guangzhou but later a naturalised French citizen, was one of 89 suspects arrested in 2005 ​for drug trafficking ​before being ⁠jailed for life in 2007. He was handed the death penalty in 2010 by a ​court in his hometown for his role ​in a ⁠100-million-yuan ($15-million) drug operation that made, transported and dealt large amounts of crystal methamphetamine in China. China's threshold for the death ⁠penalty ​is 50 gm (1.8 oz) of ​heroin or methamphetamine, but trafficking in much larger amounts is generally what ​leads to execution.