The serial rapist known as the "Hwakang Wolf" who recently raised controversy by gaining admission to National Taiwan University said that in order to ease the public's dismay, he would be willing to accept treatment to reduce his libido if paroled, prison officials said yesterday.
"He [the rapist] said he is confident that he would not break the law again. But he said he'd be willing to take any medication including chemi-castration if that could reduce the public's fear of him," said Chang Jung-chang (張榮昌), chief rehabilitation officer of Taipei Prison, where the rapist, surnamed Yang (楊), is being held.
Chemi-castration is a measure aimed at temporarily reducing sexual desire by taking chemicals via injections, pills or liquids.
Yang was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 1996 for multiple sex and violence offenses. According to the Shihlin District Court's judgment, Yang had raped 19 women, attempted to rape 11 and robbed four individuals from 1994 to 1996. Most of his victims were college students.
The Taipei Prison on Aug. 15 recommended that Yang be granted parole. The Ministry of Justice is now reviewing the application. But the possibility of Yang's release and university entry has raised public concern that he could rape again.
Lin Chien-lung (林建隆), a Soochow University English literature professor who is famous for his own reformation from being a convicted criminal, visited Yang in prison last week, Chang said.
Chang cited Yang as saying that he and Lin discussed how he could make himself accepted by society.
"He said that he would like to accept intensive monitoring and supervision," Chang said, "he's also willing to accept any psychotherapy and medication if doctors felt that it was necessary."
Chang said Yang did not mention chemi-castration himself. When asked about it he replied that he could accept that, as long as he could show his sincere intention to the public by doing so.
The Ministry of Justice had in 1997 considered amending the Criminal Code to introduce chemi-castration for serial rapists in order to prevent recidivism. However, the idea did not become government policy or law.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS