‘Beacon of freedom’ Taiwan needs to tackle its serious crime and livelihood issues

The island’s favourable image in the West masks serious governance, societal and economic problems, which have led to the deteriorating crime situation
Growth has started to slow as exports fall, which suggests poverty and inequality could worsen, and crimes such as extortion kidnappings could increase

Hilton Yip

Published: 8:45am, 14 Nov 2022

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Taiwan’s authorities recently revealed that 58 people had been rescued after being held and kept in shackles, following a police investigation into an extortion ring, with another three people having died. This was an apt reflection of developments on the island, where a spate of crimes has gone under the radar.

These include the killing of two police officers after pursuing a suspect in August, the murder of a Malaysian student last month, a mass shooting in an office building that killed four in July, an execution-style murder in a city hospital in August, and another mass shooting in Taipei last month that left four people wounded.

The fact the student’s death was the third murder of a female Malaysian student in Taiwan in three years sparked outrage in the Southeast Asian country.

This might all seem surprising as Taiwan generally appears to be safe and is seen as a haven for human rights. In a recent visit, the commissioner of the US Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, described Taiwan as “a beacon of freedom and democracy”.

As geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies, Taiwan is held up in a favourable light by the West compared with mainland China. So, perhaps it is not surprising that these cases have garnered little attention in the major international media.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, Taiwan has enjoyed strong economic growth. Its gross domestic product rose by more than 6.5 per cent last year, thanks to strong demand for its semiconductors and information communication technology exports. In addition, Taiwan has largely avoided Covid-19 lockdowns, except for about three months last year. As a result, its GDP per capita this year is expected to surpass Japan’s for the first time.

But this glowing image masks serious governance, societal and economic problems, which have led to the deteriorating crime situation.

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Despite its region-leading growth, Taiwan’s average monthly salary, which has been largely stagnant for over two decades, is still quite low compared to that in Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. While the tech sector, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), has enjoyed an extended boom, local travel, catering and retail businesses have suffered from the lack of tourists and reduced domestic consumption.

As a result, many people have lost their jobs or are in low-wage employment, and in desperate circumstances, including those who fell prey to extortion rings.

These often start with fake job ads, regularly promising high salaries, to lure victims, who are then held captive, even tortured, and forced to do the bidding of the scammers. In addition to the 58 rescued recently, last August, seven were saved in similar circumstances. There are likely to be more such scams and victims, according to police.

These cases followed similar incidents over the summer, when hundreds of Taiwanese were found to have gone to Cambodia for high-paying jobs, only to be forced, they told the authorities, to carry out phone or online scams. Such scams have also been uncovered in other countries and have targeted Hongkongers, Indonesians, Thais and Vietnamese.

But economic problems are not the only factor. The Democratic Progressive Party government has been trying hard to raise Taiwan’s global profile by hosting visits from foreign politicians, doing interviews with international media, and earning praise for liberal policies such as gay marriage. Yet it seems much less enthusiastic about tackling serious domestic issues such as crime.

The government issued a warning about job scam kidnappings in Cambodia last May, long after the first cases were believed to have happened. But Taipei only set up a task force three months ago.

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Taiwan also suffers from problems such as weak criminal sentencing and a lack of enforcement of prison terms, which have seen repeat offenders commit violent crimes with impunity. For instance, the suspect charged over the murder of two police officers in August had been on the run after failing to return to his minimum security prison – he had been allowed a short visit home.

Unsurprisingly, a total of 12 inmates have escaped from these minimum security prisons in the past two years, according to local media. A suspect arrested in connection with the extortion ring last August, in which seven were rescued, was sent to prison straightaway – he turned out to be a convicted armed robber on the run.

After DPP legislator Kao Chia-yu was abused by her then-boyfriend, the court found him guilty of assault, unlawful confinement, illegally recording intimate activities, threatening behaviour and slander – but he received only two years and 10 months in jail. This was despite what the prosecutors called “abominable” behaviour, which included keeping Kao in a hotel room for two days, and various forms of abuse.

Taiwan’s economic growth has started to slow as exports fall, which suggests that poverty and economic inequality could worsen, and that crimes such as extortion kidnappings could increase.

Rather than be content with plaudits about being any sort of “beacon of freedom”, Taiwan’s government should be putting more effort into guaranteeing its people’s safety.

Hilton Yip is a journalist and editor based in Taiwan