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Politicians point fingers over Taichung gang war

A recent gang war in Taichung has green and blue politicians pointing fingers and city residents wondering whether the city can sustain its dropping crime rates.

City police have responded to four gang-related attacks in the past 11 days in which a total of 50 bullets were fired.

All the attacks occurred in broad daylight.

Democratic Progressive Party City Councilor Fan Sung-yu (范淞育) has called on Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) to take responsibility, saying Taichung had possibly become the shooting capital of Taiwan since Hu came to office in 2002.

Fan said that Taichung police had wasted assistance from the central government by spending too much time trying to catch drunk drivers and issuing tickets instead of addressing the city's major problems.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) City Councilor Yang Cheng-chung (楊正中) said that statistics showing crime falling in Taichung didn't tell the whole story and said city government and police should stop "putting on airs" in dealing with the problem.

Taichung has been combatting recurring gang feuds and violence for more than a decade. Notable cases have included Wu Tung-huang (吳東皇), a top general of the "Seaside Mafia," who was riddled with 27 bullets by rival gang members while waiting at a red light in 2004.

Also that year, two people were killed and three wounded when a fight broke out during negotiations at a tea house between boss Lin Ming-hua (林明樺) and competing gang members.

Gang violence in Taichung had decreased between 2005 and last year after Lin's gang and that of rival leader Chang Hsi-ming (張錫銘) both were dissolved.

However, two men were injured on March 12 during a shootout in a residential area, which was followed by rifle attacks on a pub and a massage parlor by three suspects five days later, in which 30 shots were fired.

Police said that both incidents were part of a gang war between rival bosses surnamed Liu (劉) and Kuo (郭).

After the Lunar New Year, top gang leaders appeared to be responding to police efforts to orchestrate a truce, but each effort collapsed and was followed by fresh violence.

Director-General of the National Police Agency Hou You-yi (侯友宜), made a trip to Taichung on Thursday to assess the situation.

No sooner had Hou left than gang boss Lin Chen-hsing (林振興) was attacked on Friday.

Taichung Deputy Mayor Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家旗), who has been acting as mayor since Hu left for a trip to Japan on March 16, said that he felt "a bit awkward" with another shooting ocurring on the day of Hu's departure.

Hsiao said that despite the recent incidents, crime statistics on the whole had been dropping since the end of last year.

He also said that polls had shown growing satisfaction among city residents, reflecting overall satisfaction with the improvement in public safety.

Hsiao said that the city government was focusing on the problem of gang violence, adding that he had told the police force to do everything possible to solve the crimes.
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