When Deputy Minister of Justice and state prosecutor-general nominee Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) told recent a hearing that all the convicts on death row should be executed, it is safe to assume that he had no idea how much trouble his statement would cause.
The first victim of the ensuing commotion was his then-boss, former minister of justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), who was forced to resign a few days later after coming under pressure over a statement that she did not intend to carry out any executions during her tenure.
Since then, debate has raged on the issue of capital punishment. One of the first acts of new Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) was to order a review of the cases of all death row inmates, with Tseng implying that any inmates whose guilt was confirmed would likely be executed.
Now it appears the resumption of executions — something that is looking increasingly likely — after an unofficial five-year moratorium may have even more far-reaching ramifications, including the possible delay of Taiwan’s long-held goal of visa-free travel status for the EU.
This would certainly seem to be the case following a hastily arranged meeting on Thursday between the EU’s top representative to Taiwan and Cabinet officials where they “exchanged views on capital punishment.”
The government and the new justice minister could do worse than listen to the reasoned opinion of the country’s European partners rather than giving in to the irrational blood-lust of a few attention-seeking politicians and public figures, whether such a move has public support or not.
While politicians and those in high office never miss an opportunity to tout Taiwan as a “human rights respecting” member of the global community, these people have to realize that if Taiwan wants to be taken seriously it needs to live up to these claims and play by the rules — rules that equate respecting human rights with the end of state-sponsored executions.
Taiwan can’t have its cake and eat it.
For far too long, almost every politician in this country has been willing to ignore capital punishment while falling back on the old chestnut that abolition will have to “wait until a public consensus is reached” on the odd occasion this emotive issue rears its ugly head — safe in the knowledge this will not happen.
While there continues to be majority support for capital punishment in Taiwan — a survey in the wake of Wang’s resignation found three-quarters of respondents against its abolition — there have not been crowds of people protesting for the resumption of executions since they were halted in 2005.
The execution of violent criminals may give victims’ families a feeling of retribution and a sense that justice has been done, but it achieves little else, as countless studies have shown that capital punishment does not act as a deterrent.
People should be even more cautious in their support, as many of those on death row have been convicted on the flimsiest of evidence.
The sooner more people become aware of these facts, the better. If, as so often seems the case, people really do care about how Taiwan is viewed by the rest of the international community, then a serious, hyperbole-free discussion with a view to reaching that long awaited consensus should take place — preferably before the next bullet is fired.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not