While the alleged kidnapping and murder of Greater Taichung-based businessman Shih Chia-chin (施家金) has again triggered public criticism of security in the city, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) yesterday said that it is only an isolated case.
The decomposing body of the 57-year-old Shih was found in a mountainous area of Greater Tainan late on Sunday, after his alleged abduction early on Aug. 18.
Hu said that he knows the case could be seen as additional “proof” that the city is not safe, but he stressed that the event is an isolated one and declared war on organized crime.
Citing public safety statistics, Hu said that from January until last month, only 75 major crimes were reported in Greater Taichung, compared with 194 in New Taipei City, 184 in Taipei, 171 in Greater Tainan and 135 in Greater Kaohsiung.
He added that Greater Taichung has the lowest crime rates among the nation’s five special municipalities.
Despite Hu’s statements, netizens yesterday questioned his ability to fight crime, saying that since March 2007, the mayor has “declared war on organized crime” 23 times, but major crimes still happen in the city.
According to an unpublished survey conducted by the Ministry of the Interior on public satisfaction with security in the fourth quarter last year, Greater Taichung ranked the worst among the five special municipalities.
According to the survey, up to 82.91 percent of Greater Tainan residents are satisfied with security in the city, 76.78 percent in Taipei, 73.64 percent in New Taipei City and 73.11 in Greater Kaohsiung, while satisfaction drops to 60.62 in Greater Taichung.
Past survey results also rank Greater Taichung last among the five special municipalities in all four quarters last year.
When the numbers were leaked to media outlets last year, Hu protested to the then-minister of the interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源), but Lee said he did not know how reporters got the figures.
Shih, the victim who made a fortune from the online gambling business, became a billionaire by investing in real estate and operating hypermarkets at home and abroad.
According to police, Shih returned to Taiwan from a trip to the US and was picked up by his chauffeur at the Taiwan Taoyaun International Airport. Instead of being taken home, Shih told his family to transfer NT$30 million (US$1 million) into a bank account designated by his kidnappers, police said.
The police later used surveillance cameras to determine that the chauffeur had two accomplices who abandoned Shih’s Mercedes-Benz in Greater Tainan.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS