Smarting Ma vows retribution over prostitution guide

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday ordered the Taipei Municipal Police Depart-ment to set up a task force to crack down on Japanese tourists who come to Taipei City for sex services.

"If they [Japanese tourists seeking prostitution services] come alone, we'll arrest them. If they come in groups, we'll arrest them too," Ma said.

Ma made the warnings after learning of a newly released Jap-anese guidebook detailing Tai-wan's sex industry.

He added that anyone, wheth-er individuals or travel agencies, helping arrange such services for sex tourists will be "dealt with strictly according to the law."

"Taipei City welcomes Jap-anese tourists visiting Taiwan for the pleasure of tourism and shopping, but for those who come purely for sex services -- they'll find no welcome here," he said.

Ma said that he had asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Information Office to convey his message to the Japanese government.

Sue Wang, (王時思), executive general of the Judicial Reform Foundation, said that individuals who are found engaging in prostitution "will receive a fine or a prison term."

Taipei City police yesterday raided a total of 12 hotels, bars, hot spring parlors, and pubs, mostly situated along Linsen N. Road and Shuangcheng Street, an area often referred to as the "Combat Zone."

The move was made in an attempt to find out whether those places listed by the controversial book as offering sex service indeed do provide such services.

However, their efforts did not pay off as these businesses had either shut down business entirely or closed early for the day. Of those that were open, no sex trade was found, according to reports.

Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday he didn't call his own press conference as he didn't want to publicize the book.

Nagano Yasuyoshi (長野保由), an editor for Tsukasashi Shobo -- the Japanese company that produced the book Paradise in Taiwan -- says the publisher did not think the book would pose a problem in Taiwan.

"We did not mean to offend the people of Taiwan and did not solely target Taiwan on the [prostitution] issue," he said, adding that the publisher had printed similar books before on places such as South Korea and Thailand.

The information in the book was compiled between September and October last year by freelance writers hired by the publisher, Nagano said, adding that it debuted in Japan last December.