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Lee attacks Ma over crime

DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said yesterday that crime in the city had worsened under the government of Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Lee demand that Ma take responsibility for increasing Ecstasy use in nightclubs, a thriving sex industry and scandals involving the city's police.

Lee was speaking following the release on bail on Wednesday of two police officers from the city's Chungshan precinct and three nightclub owners who were suspected of obstructing a police crackdown on Ecstasy use.

Saying that the high number of cases reported to the police did not necessarily equate to the force's effectiveness, Lee asked Ma to stop playing numbers games with the public to try to persuade them that the city's crime rate was decreasing.

During President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) time as mayor, Lee said, the number of reported cases of crimes related to the sex trade or drugs was about 334 a year. "But under Ma, the number has risen to about 597, almost twice as many as under Chen," he said.

Lee said such statistics belied Ma's claimed success in cracking down on the city's sex industry.

Young people have suffered as a result of Ma's failure to maintain public order, Lee said, saying many took Ecstasy in pubs, an act that not only ruined their health but also led to their involvement in other criminal activities, such as prostitution.

"Ma's style of governing emphasizes the superficial but lacks actual determination," Lee said. "Every issue that concerns the city's public order remains untackled, leaving many city residents shaking their heads and worrying about the future of the youngsters."

Lee also criticized the mayor's priorities in demanding money from the central government for flood prevention after spending money on projects for the city that he said weren't urgent.

Ma has spent NT$4 billion on upgrading the city's sidewalks, Lee said, when the money could have been spent on the dredging of tributaries of the Keelung River, for which the mayor is asking the government to pay NT$1.98 billion.

On Wednesday, the Legislature Yuan approved a special budget for flood-control measures along the Keelung River, but excluded Ma's request.

"If I were him, I would have used NT$2 billion for flood prevention and the other NT$2 billion for renovating the sidewalks," Lee said.

In response to Lee's criticism, Ma said his record on public order was better than that of Chen.

"In comparison to Chen's public approval ratings, which were often less than 50 percent on the issue of public order, mine have been in the range of between 50 and 60 percent," Ma said.

Ma also said faulted Lee's logic regarding the city's flood-prevention proposals.

"While we were working on renovating the city's sidewalks, how could we know in advance what was going to happen with regard to the proposal in the Legislative Yuan?" Ma said.

"Besides, we have already come up with NT$10.8 billion to dredge the Keelung River."
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