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.
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
RSS