The New Power Party (NPP) has yet to form a definitive stance on capital punishment, but is to make an announcement tomorrow after meeting with children’s rights advocates and experts, NPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday.
“We will not promote a policy [on abolishing the death penalty] when society has yet to reach a consensus on the matter,” he said.
Huang met yesterday afternoon with Taiwan Children’s Rights Association director-general Wang Wei-chun (王薇君), who sought the party’s support in pushing for more legislation to protect children’s rights.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The party has become a target of criticism following the grisly murder of a four-year-old girl on Monday morning in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) because of NPP Legislator Freddy Lim’s (林昶佐) support for the abolition of capital punishment.
The party said it had proposed policies on 14 different issues, not including eliminating capital punishment.
Lim said that discussions on whether the nation should abolish the death penalty at this time would only blur the focus, which should be to better protect the family of the murdered girl from further harm.
However, he reiterated that his ideal was that the nation would ultimately abolish capital punishment.
After his meeting with Wang, Huang said that all parties should work to protect the rights of children, because the issue covers several aspects.
“We should ask whether the government has enough resources to fund the mechanism through which similar crises can be reported,” Huang said.
“The standards and procedures we use to compel people with mental health issues to seek treatment must be reasonable and thoroughly enforced,” he said.
“People affected by abusive crimes should be protected by a dedicated agency,” he added. “The functions of correctional facilities should be enhanced.”
“All these are issues that need to be discussed calmly to prevent another tragedy,” Huang said.
Wang, who is an aunt of a child who died from physical abuse, said she hopes that all legislative caucuses could focus more attention on child safety issues.
She said the association has appealed to lawmakers for years to jointly work on the cause, but nothing has changed.
“It does not help much if we only condemn the perpetrator after what has happened,” Wang said.
“We hope that the number of cases involving abuse or murder of minors could be reduced to zero,” she said.
Wang said she supports the death penalty and hopes that the suspect in this case would receive the heaviest sentence, with a caveat that the nation must have a just judicial system in which no one is wrongfully convicted.
Commenting on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alicia Wang’s (王育敏) proposed amendment to the Criminal Code — automatic death penalty or life imprisonment for those who kill children aged less than 12 — she said it would not be much different from the law as it stands.
“The point is: How many of the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code would change what has already happened,” Wang Wei-chun said.
“Also, would supporters and opponents of the death penalty talk to each other and see what they can do to bring about judicial reform,” she added.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS