Councilor blasts city for laxity in closing brothels

Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) yesterday alleged that the city government manipulates statistics and lied when it said it had closed 193 brothels, saying that he had found 11 of them that were still open.

During a press conference yesterday, Wang, of the DPP, also appealed to bureaus within the city government to work together to eliminate unauthorized sex industry operations.

Presenting data provided by the city government, Wang said that since the city launched crackdowns on the sex and gambling industries in January 1999, the Taipei City Police Headquarters (台北市警察局) had mounted a series of raids and inspection visits at 215 brothels.

As a result of the raids, the city cut off water and electricity supplies to 193 premises and ordered them to immediately cease their illegal activities.

For many years in Taipei, certain teahouses, barber shops, and bars have served as fronts for prostitution operations.

In January 1999, the city government launched a major initiative to crack down on such businesses. It also passed legislation that, beginning next year, will outlaw so-called "public" brothels -- legal operations on which corporate tax is levied.

When Wang and his assistants made visits on Oct. 1 to verify that illegal activities had indeed ceased at the premises which were targeted in the crackdown, they found that at least 11 of those establishments were still operating.

"Stop playing the numbers game and face reality," Wang said. "City residents don't need false statistics. I'm very curious to know why the police seem always to be in the dark when most people know that the brothels are back in business."

Lin Cheng-yi (林正儀), chief of the administration section at the Taipei City Police Headquarters, said police usually give such outfits a chance to clean up their act. According to Lin, owners of facilities found to be operating illegally face a NT$200,000 fine and receive an order of immediate cessation of operations for a first infringement.

After a second offense, the city shuts off the supply of water and electricity.

Owners may apply to resume business after six months, however, applications will only be granted if the original interior decoration is fully replaced and there is no evidence of involvement in the sex industry.

Visibly unhappy with Lin's answer, Wang questioned the city's Tax Bureau (稅捐稽徵處) about the possibility of disciplining proprietors for tax evasion.

"I'm highly suspicious that the monthly revenue of a 400-ping to 500-ping (1,300m2 to 1,600m2) facility is recorded as NT$1 million," Wang said.

Chen Wei-feng (陳偉峰), a section chief of the Tax Bureau, said there is not much his office can do.

"The most severe discipline we can deliver is to prevent the proprietor from exiting the country," he said.

"Tax evasion is understandable among such facilities because tax levied for sex-related services is 25 percent as opposed to 5 percent or 15 percent of other non-sex related services," he said.