Chen Shui-bian (
He also said that he would choose a talented, high-ranking police official as his Minister of the Interior.
"The situation in communities around the country has become abnormal. We have murderers who now throw insults at the police from the safety of the floor of the Legislative Yuan. Some of these people even use this arrogant maneuvering to earn huge sums of money," said Chen, who was publicizing the latest addition to his white papers on what he will do if he is elected.
Chen said that under the KMT's rule, the crime rate has been on a steady increase nationwide during the past five years, but that public safety in Taipei actually improved during his four-year mayoral term from 1994 to 1998.
"Taipei was chosen as one of top 10 cities in Asia three times by Asiaweek magazine -- the second most-livable city in 1999, the fifth in 1998 and the 10th in 1997. The city never did so well under the guidance of the KMT," he said.
Although Chen lost his mayoral reelection bid in 1998, Asiaweek gave him credit for helping boost Taipei in 1999.
Chen's campaign manager, Chang Chun-hsiung (
"It proves the notion that `absolute power corrupts absolutely,'" Chang said.
Chen said another achievement he made while in office was regarding then-chief of the Taipei City Police Department, Ting Yuan-chin (丁原進). Chen promoted Ting to the position during his admini-stration because of his outstanding work.
After Chen was voted out of office, the central government promoted Ting to director-general of the National Police Administration (NPA) for his contributions during his time in the Chen administration.
"Ting was the first person from a local police department to be promoted to director-general of the NPA. It stands to reason that the central government promoted Ting because the public security situation in Taipei had improved," Chen said.
In addition, Chen stressed that a deserving, high-ranking police official should be placed in a more important position and that the right person could even become Minister of the Interior.
"Therefore, the National Police Administration should no longer be under the Minister of the Interior. We would raise its status to that of a separate ministry," Chen said.
In the white paper, Chen also advocated that the shifts that police normally work should decrease to eight hours from the current 12 hours and that the regulations regarding retirement should follow the precedent of those in the armed forces -- retiring after 20 years of service or at the age of 50.
"In addition, we will do more to prevent youth crime, establish a community police system, encourage more women to join in public safety work and set up a special committee to study ways to reduce the harmful effects of the media," Chen said.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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