Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday apologized for putting unnecessary pressure on his subordinates because of a promise he made six months ago to reduce crime rates.
"I am sorry that I might have made too many promises. Therefore, I apologize to my fellow Cabinet members," Su said.
Su's comments were made in reference to his promise on March 15 that he would resign and withdraw from politics for good if the crime rate does not drop within six months.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
The premier said that he felt he had put too much emphasis on this issue. As a result, his fellow Cabinet members' accomplishments could now be called into question, because people might think that these officials were merely trying to help the premier stay in office. Also, Su said, people might think the improvement in crime statistics had been exaggerated or were fake.
"I admit that I did not think this through before I gave my word six months ago," Su said.
The premier held a press conference at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning to "report to the public" regarding the Cabinet's efforts to keep the premier's promise. Su said that overall, public order was improved, but that he was not yet satisfied.
"The figures say it all," Su said.
The premier sought to pre-empt possible criticism of his Cabinet members and took advantage of the drop in the rate of car and scooter theft to explain why he would believe it is impossible to fake the figures.
"Usually, most people report to the police immediately when their vehicle is stolen, because of fears that their stolen vehicle may be used to commit a crime," Su said. "Whenever there is a report of a stolen vehicle, the police must file a report. The reports do not lie."
The Cabinet offered a number of statistics to show how much public order was improved.
Between March 15 and Sept. 10 this year, 253,523 criminal cases were reported, while there were 281,603 cases during the same period last year. Among the 253,523 cases this year, 67.53 percent of them had been closed, while only 63.37 percent of last year's cases were closed.
For fraud, 21,495 cases were reported between March 15 and Sept. 10 this year, and 61.1 percent of them were closed, while 23,745 fraud cases were reported last year, but only 54.22 percent of them were closed.
For illegal racing on both scooters and cars, 2,338 cases were reported during this period last year, but only 1,222 illegal racing cases have been reported this year.
"We have figured out a new approach for accelerating the process of getting crime rates to drop, and we will continue to use it," Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (
Lee said that generally, economic issues were at the heart of much criminal activity, and as a result continuous economic growth will be the best method for deterring crime.
In addition, certain crimes, such as theft, depend on "demand" (a market for stolen items) and "supply," Lee said. As long as law enforcement officers continue to decrease the demand, thieves will not be able to sell the items they steal, and the rate of theft will drop, Lee said.
"This is something we will continue to do," Lee said.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
RSS