China Executes Two Filipinos for Drug Trafficking Despite Philippine Appeals

The executions occur amid escalating territorial disputes, as the Philippines continues its fight against drug syndicates and warns citizens abroad.

China has executed two Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking, despite appeals from the Philippine government to commute their sentences to life imprisonment.
The executions were announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, which had been providing legal defense for the two since their arrest in 2013.
The executions occur amid escalating territorial disputes in the South China Sea, with the Philippines having filed over 100 diplomatic protests against China since June last year.
The Philippine government has reiterated its commitment to fighting drug syndicates and has urged Filipinos traveling abroad to be vigilant against recruitment as 'drug mules'.
Two other death penalty cases involving Filipinos are currently under appeal and final review in China, and another Filipino is facing execution in Indonesia for drug trafficking.