The majority of Taiwanese oppose abolishing the death penalty and think such a decision should be made through a referendum, a poll released yesterday showed.
More than 80 percent of respondents in the survey, conducted by a new think tank founded by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), said they oppose abolishing the death penalty and a Constitutional Court judgement on capital punishment.
Fifty-seven percent of respondents said the Constitution should be amended to limit the court’s power, while 65.8 percent said a public referendum on the death penalty should be held in 2026.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that although the death penalty conforms with the Constitution, it should only be applied in “exceptional” cases.
KMT lawmakers criticized the ruling, saying “it effectively abolished capital punishment in Taiwan.”
The poll showed that the majority of Taiwanese want a referendum on capital punishment to be held alongside the 2026 general election, Lo told a news conference yesterday.
“More than 80 percent of people disagree with the Constitutional Court’s ruling on capital punishment. The justices should reflect on why their public support has diminished recently,” he said.
As a ruling by the Constitutional Court cannot be overturned, Taiwanese want to a referendum on the matter, he said.
That 57 percent of Taiwanese think the Constitution should be amended to limit the Constitutional Court’s power suggests that recent judgements issued by the justices do not align with public opinion, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said.
“The public feels their rights have been infringed upon by the justices’ judgement on the death penalty... When the justices go against the will of the people, direct democracy and public opinion should be exercised,” KMT Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) said.
People cannot accept that the justices have directed the legislature to amend the law according to their rulings, KMT Legislator Ye Yuan-zhi (葉元之) added.
Even among the survey’s respondents who self-identified as pan-green camp supporters, there is significant agreement on these issues, which places enormous pressure on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Chinese Culture University professor Niu Tse-hsun (鈕則勳) said.
“The ruling party and the Central Election Commission should respect the will of the people and address their calls for a referendum on the death penalty,” he said.
The Apollo Survey and Research Co conducted the poll from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17 among Taiwanese aged 18 or older by phone. The survey had 1,081 valid samples, and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS