TAIWAN: ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY REQUIRES PUBLIC SUPPORT

responding to a call by the European Parliament for an immediate end to the use of capital punishment in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) reiterated that such a step cannot be taken in the country without the support of the people.
"The government must gather people's opinions to obtain consensus" on the issue, MOFA spokeswoman Anna Kao told reporters, one day after Taiwan executed six death row inmates.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah also reaffirmed majority public opinion in Taiwan favors retention of the death penalty. He noted that there are some people in the society who wish to abolish the death penalty, but said most people still think capital punishment should be retained for certain major crimes.
Under such circumstances, Jiang said, he supports the Ministry of Justice's decision to carry out death row executions in cases where there is no chance of overturning the convictions and there is no other solution. State executions are "in keeping with the law and the society's expectations," the premier said.