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.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
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An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
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