President Donald Trump has come under criticism for praising China's use of the death penalty in drug trafficking cases, which he says the U.S. "is ready" to adopt, The Independent reports.
"States with a very powerful death penalty on drug dealers don't have a drug problem," Trump said Monday after a speech to governors at the White House. "I don't know that our country is ready for that, but if you look throughout the world, the countries with a powerful death penalty — death penalty — with a fair but quick trial, they have very little if any drug problem. That includes China."
"Criminal in China for drugs by the way means that's serious. They're getting a maximum penalty," he added. "And you know what the maximum penalty is in China for that, and it goes very quickly."
Trump said, "It's interesting, where you have Singapore, they have very little drug problem, where you have China, they have very little drug problem. States with a very powerful death penalty on drug dealers don't have a drug problem."
According to Time, China's National Narcotics Control Commission found in a 2017 report there were 2.51 million drug users in China, an increase of 7% from the year before, a number Ann Fordham, the executive director of the International Drug Policy Consortium, told the magazine is probably "much higher" than reported.
"It is incredibly disturbing that President Trump would claim there is not a drug problem in China because they use the death penalty," Fordham said. "I don't know how it's possible to claim that. The administration should check its facts, especially when advocating use of the death penalty for drug offenses."