SIR – I live and work in Beijing and have never experienced any threat or crime in my 12 years here. My 11-year-old daughter plays in the local park with her friends, walks to school and goes on shopping trips to the local shops alone.

The reason that China is so safe is that it rigorously enforces the law. Everyone knows the rules and there is no excuse if you are caught. Akmal Shaikh travelled to China with nine pounds of heroin, he was an adult and must have known the consequences of his actions.
While Gordon Brown and his colleagues wring their hands at the fate of Mr Shaikh and condemn China, they preside over a country that has become crime-ridden and unsafe. A country where it is both fashionable to carry a knife and to use it, with impunity.

Mr Brown has no right to condemn China for enforcing its laws. Maybe he should take a leaf out of the Chinese government's book and start to enforce the laws of Britain, instead of the laissez-faire attitude now displayed by the Prime Minister and his Government.

Graham Forbes
Beijing, China