TAIWAN CONSIDERS ABOLISHING THE DEATH PENALTY

the Taiwanese Ministry of Justice said that it will solicit views from all sectors of society on whether to abolish capital punishment. Chang Chi-yun, director of the Ministry's Department of Prevention, Rehabilitation and Protection, said the ministry will conduct public hearings, seminars as well as campus debates. He noted that President Chen Shui-bian said in 2000 that he wanted to scrap the death penalty and that the ministry's policy to eventually abrogate it remains unchanged. The ministry also held a seminar on phasing out capital punishment for the first time last year, with the participants fully expressing their views, Chang said. He noted that currently, the concept of getting even is still prevalent in Taiwan and that the abrogation of the death penalty will have to await "a maturing of society."