On April 14, 1997, entertainment star Pai Ping-ping's (白冰冰) daughter Pai Hsiao-yen (白曉燕) was murdered. On November 18 of the same year, her murderer Chen Chin-hsing (陳進興) held a military attache of the South African embassy and his family hostage in Tienmu (天母).
Two hostages were accidentally shot by stray bullets fired by Chen. Had the injured hostages not been rescued quickly, not only would their lives have been at grave risk, but a panic-stricken Chen may have just gone on a rampage killing everyone in the house. However, if the police forced entry, Chen might also have started a shooting spree before killing himself. Eventually, Chen granted me permission to enter the house and bring out the injured hostages.
As a result of my involvement in this case, I have a few observations to share.
1. In the past, the media has involved itself extensively in many criminal cases and, in general, cooperated with the police in major kidnapping cases to ensure the safety of the hostages.
However, the Pai case was an exception to this practice. The media repeatedly overstepped its bounds. In fact, one journal revealed confidential information regarding the case. To avoid obstruction to crime investigation and danger to the hostages as a result of this leak, the police spent more than NT$400,000 in a single day to buy all copies of the magazine.
2. The courage and determination of Pai Hsia-yen's mother, Pai Ping-ping, in standing up against the kidnappers was admirable. She took detailed notes of every part of the investigation and offered hypotheses about the details of the crime to the police. Her ability to maintain composure and participate in the rescue, despite an extremely sad and fearful mental state, was truly beneficial.
3. Pai Ping-ping's public statement reminded the general public that domestic issues, including crime, were no less important than economic and foreign-relations problems. Never before had one criminal case been the catalyst for the improvement of social conditions.
Demonstrations held on May 4 and 18 that year protesting against the rising crime rate were also ground-breaking. Never before had any non-political demonstrations been participated in by so many people representing such a broad spectrum of Taiwan society. The orderly fashion and peaceful demeanor of the demonstrators had also never been seen before in Taiwan. Recent public concern over crime stemmed largely from the Pai case.
4. The kidnappers' unique approach and characteristics forced the police to re-establish a crisis-management and hostage-rescue negotiation mechanism. The challenge posed to old beliefs and outdated equipment was educational and the police's capacity to deal with such circumstances has since been made all the better.
5. The establishment of an anti-kidnapping team, the drafting of a telecommunications surveillance law and a domestic violence prevention law to protect the safety of women and children, among others, were some of the measures brought, in part, by the Pai case. However, not enough has been done. In terms of personal safety, we need preventive, rather than after-the-fact, measures. Besides making new laws, we also need to improve environmental design to improve safety as well as implement a community policing system.
Hou Yu-ih is the deputy commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Bureau.
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US