"There are two elements needed to be a big-time gangster. You got to have money and you got to have firepower -- its 50-50. You can't have one without the other," he said.
And, as is the case throughout the world, with money comes influence. Chin says there is a well-documented history in Taiwan of gangsters penetrating the political arena. As a gang's influence in a certain area grows, so do its connections. Dozens of gangsters have managed to be elected into city, county and even national politics. Chin said this is a not-uncommon occurrence in numerous cities and counties throughout the southern half of Taiwan.
Gangsters in office
"Starting from Taichung all the way down to Taitung, Chiayi, Yulin and Kaohsiung. There have so many gangsters elected into office in these places," Chin said.
The most recent example of this to come to light is gangster-turned-politician Chang Jung-wei (張榮味). Backed by his underworld friends and local Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians, Chang was elected Yulin county commissioner in 1999 in an election said to be tainted by massive vote rigging. After being suspected of embezzling nearly NT$90 million from a land purchase deal, Chang fled on Aug. 14 and is now a fugitive. In an interview he gave with a Chinese-language newspaper while on the run, Chang said the charges brought against him were trumped-up by the Democratic Progressive Party.
Perhaps gangsters holding office don't need weapons, but for kidnappers like Chang Hsi-ming, it is the foundation of their power. But as it stands now, police do not seem to have a long-term solution for Taiwan's gun-wielding gangster problem -- maybe there isn't one.
Asked what the nation should do to reduce guns and gun-related crime, Chin didn't mince his words: "Short of going back to the martial law era, I think what needs to be done is to better train and equip police officers and provide them with the kinds of weapons that are being used against them."
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