A large majority of the public favors harsher sentences for people convicted of killing children under the age of 12, according to a poll, which showed strong support for the death penalty following the decapitation of a four-year-old girl on Monday.
A survey conducted by Television Broadcasts Satellite’s (TVBS) poll center found that 81 percent of respondents supported mandatory death or life in prison sentences for murder of a child under 12 years old.
Lawmakers have proposed making the sentences mandatory following the decapitation of the girl, surnamed Liu (劉), nicknamed “Little Lightbulb” (小燈泡), in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Broad support for the proposed changes cut across party lines and age groups, with 64 percent of those surveyed “extremely supportive.”
The TVBS poll found that 84 percent of respondents supported maintaining the death penalty, up 2 percentage points from a similar survey conducted in June last year. Support for abolishing the death penalty fell 3 percentage points from the previous poll.
When asked whether life in prison without parole could serve as an alternative to the death penalty, only 27 percent agreed, the poll showed.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
There was a slight decline in the percentage of those who said that the death penalty acts as a deterrent for crime, with 79 percent agreeing compared with 85 percent last year.
The cable network operator’s telephone poll was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, with 847 valid samples and a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
In related news, the girl’s mother — identified as Claire Wang — said on Facebook yesterday that while she “does not support” the death penalty, she also “does not agree” with its abolition.
“Often many thoughts and ideas are like religion and politics — rooted in the heart. Those who believe will always believe and those who do not never will — I only believe in what I’ve always believed in,” she said. “I still believe that love is the heart’s first intention, that society is beautiful and that human nature at its root is good.”
She asked that people who read her Facebook comments to “forgive” her for failing to respond or clarify every comment, adding that she was not “mighty” or “extraordinary” and lacked strength, caring only that her family and friends understood her.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft