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Singer Yu's brother put to death

Popular singer Yu Tien's (余天) younger brother, Yu Fu-hsing (余福星) was executed yesterday by Chinese authorities for smuggling heroin into the country from Thailand.

"Yu was given a death sentence in March by the Chinese court for smuggling heroin to Xiamen, and he was executed yesterday with others sentenced to death," Hong Kong newspapers reported.

Yu Tien yesterday confirmed his younger brother was executed yesterday.

The newspapers said last March, two Chinese travelers were caught by Chinese authorities carrying 10 bricks of heroin, totalling 3.8kg, from Thailand. The heroin had a street value of NT$100 million, the reports said.

Reports also added that the two travelers told police at Xiamen they were hired by a Taiwanese national named Chen Ping-huang (陳炳煌).

Chen, who lives in China, fled from Fujian Province to Guangxi Province after discovering police were looking for him, the reports said.

Chen was then arrested in Guangxi Province and later told police that Yu Fu-Hsing, Yu Tien's younger brother, was the key man in the smuggling operation.

Chen told police the heroin was bought from Myanmar into Thailand. Yu and he initially planed to transport it to Taiwan by boat, but because of Taiwan's tightened security at the time, they decided to transport the drugs to Xiamen and wait some time before bringing it across the Taiwan Strait.

Reports also said Chinese police arrested Yu in Xiamen late last year.

Responding to reports of his brother's execution, Yu Tien yesterday cried as he said, "In my next life, I want him to be my brother again."

Yu told reporters his younger brother was adopted as a child and had a bad life. He said he should have taken more care of his younger brother.

He said his 49-year-old brother moved to Xiamen 12 years ago and married a Chinese woman.

Yu's father, however, was less sympathetic. He told reporters his son deserved the death sentence because he committed a serious crime.

"He was a troublemaker in my family, and I will not cry for him," he said.

Yu was executed by lethal injection, the newspaper reports said.

International organizations have expressed concern about the large number of people in China who are put to death every year.

According to the international human rights organization Hands Off Cain, China accounted for over 90 percent of the over 5,000 people executed by governments around the world last year.

Yu Tien has four younger brothers and one younger sister. His another younger brother Yu Long (余龍) died in a KTV fire in Taichung in 1992.

Yu is one of the most popular singers in the country and is considered influential in entertainment circles because of his ability to resolve disputes. He has said he is thinking about running for a Taipei City councilor's seat in the year-end elections.
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