The DPP launched a personal attack yesterday on the KMT's presidential candidate, Lien Chan (
The DPP launched a series of newspaper advertisements yesterday to point out that by 1997, the year Lien stepped down, crime had risen 44 percent since 1993.
"In the meantime, public order improved in Taipei City under mayor Chen Shui-bian (
Lo pointed out that three high-profile violent crimes -- the murder of Taoyuan County Commissioner Liu Pang-yu (
"Even then-National Police Administration (NPD) director-general Yao Kao-chiao (
"It proves Lien's premiership was the darkest period for Taiwan's public safety," Lo said.
Lo cited police statistics to point out that there were 140,648 criminal cases in 1993, and that the number had risen to 202,465 in 1997.
Meanwhile, he said, the government only used 5,278 people in criminal investigations, while 1,886 officers were assigned to protect President Lee Teng-hui (
He also pointed to a massive demonstration in the spring of 1997, which drew an estimated 50,000 people, who demanded improved public safety and the premier's resignation.
"But Lien only apologized at a Cabinet meeting on May 4, 1997, then went to play golf two days later ... with plenty of police protection," Lo said.
The newspaper ad suggested Lien had not been sincere in apologizing, stating: "As Lien spent six hours playing a round of golf, nine violent crimes were committed."
Lo said that the numbers reflected police statistics indicating a crime occurred every 2 minutes, 36 seconds and that a violent crime occurred every 38 minutes, 24 seconds in 1997.
The DPP also plans to run ads attacking Lien on other issues such as his property holdings in Taipei, the cost of his daughter's wedding and the source of his family's wealth.
Lien's spokesman, however, said that Chen was the sort of politician who tried to take credit for all achievements, while assigning blame for mistakes to others.
"The crime rate has risen because the police department and other officials have improved their record of arresting drug traffickers," spokesman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said. "The DPP always tries to abuse statistics to mislead voters. Taiwan does not need a candidate like Chen."
Chen Hsueh-shen (陳學聖), another spokesman on Lien's campaign staff, said that two of the three biggest crime cases which Lo cited occurred in Taipei and Kaohsiung Counties, all of which were under DPP rule at the time.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so