Violent crime in Taipei has dropped 50 percent this year, Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said at a ceremony yesterday to celebrate the appointments of eight police precinct chiefs.
But critics say that the mayor's numbers simply don't add up.
There has "been a massive improvement in law and order in Taipei this year," Ma said.
According to government statistics, the mayor said, there were 499 violent crimes through July this year, down from 810 during the same period last year.
Furthermore, Ma said, "More than 60 percent of people in Taipei are satisfied with social order, according to a recent poll in June."
But DPP City Councilor Lo Tsung-sheng (
"Three serious shootings occurred in August alone. If the poll was conducted now, I am sure that the public perception of the police would be worse," he said.
Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元), New Party councilor, agreed. "Even if we don't count those people who don't have an opinion, more than 20 percent of the people are dissatisfied with the current situation," Lee said.
"Ma should listen to the real voice of the public and not just look at the statistics," Lee said.
Lo said that Ma's use of the crime numbers discounts the seriousness of theft and said that theft was a fundamental concern for Taipei residents.
"Violent crimes only account for a small proportion of the total number of crimes committed," Lo said.
"What annoys people most is that theft is still rampant," Lo added.
The total number of crimes reported last year was 48,819, of which roughly 31,000 were thefts.
Through July of this year, there have been 18,429 reports of theft, slightly higher than the 17,670 reports during the same period last year.
"[Instances of] police shelving cases are not uncommon and some victims don't report their cases because they feel the police are incapable of solving crimes of theft," Lee said. "The actual number of cases is probably much higher."
Yesterday's ceremony was held to mark the first personnel shift under the new director of the Taipei City police, Wang Cho-chun (
The former director, Wang Chin-wang (
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
RSS