Yang Fengrui, deputy secretary-general of the National...

Yang Fengrui, deputy secretary-general of the National Narcotics Control Commission, defended China's frequent use of the death penalty against drug traffickers amid stepped-up efforts to control growing narcotics use. The comments followed appeals by human rights groups for China, which executes hundreds of traffickers a year, to abandon the death penalty. The government hopes to rehabilitate drug users so they can "return to society" but has no qualms about "severe punishment" for criminals, Yang said at a news conference. "The Chinese masses applaud giving the death penalty to drug traffickers," he said. "Drug trafficking has severe social consequences. It's equal to killing people." Yang said he had no exact figures on the numbers of drug traffickers executed each year.