TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With less than five days until Taiwan elects a new president and legislature, representatives of the major political parties continue to trade jabs over the continued use of the death penalty in Taiwan.

The issue was brought into the spotlight after a New Taipei junior high school student was fatally injured by a classmate in late December. International advocacy groups have called on Taiwan to abolish capital punishment, though research conducted in 2022 shows public support for the death penalty remains high.

Ahead of Taiwan’s election on Saturday (Jan. 13), here is an outline of the DPP, KMT, and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) positions on the use of the death penalty in Taiwan.

Democratic Progressive Party

During the televised debate on Dec. 30, the DPP’s Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said a high degree of public support would be needed to abolish the death penalty. He also said he understood people’s desire to retain capital punishement.

Since then, Lai has faced near daily calls from Hou’s campaign and other members of the KMT to clarify his position. They say he is avoiding the issue. On Monday, a spokesperson for Lai’s campaign said the issue was not being avoided.

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The spokesperson said the abolition of the death penalty is not the issue, and added the DPP advocates for more careful handling of the issue, per UDN.

Meanwhile on Friday, Taiwan’s justice ministry responded to the increasing criticisms from KMT candidates and said it was not reluctant to carry out executions, per Storm Media. There are currently 37 inmates on death row in Taiwan, the ministry said, and executing them immediately would require removing the legal remedy processes allowed by law.

The ministry said all of Taiwan’s death row inmates have mounted legal challenges to their sentences. It said that sentences will be carried out in accordance with the law, depending on the outcome of these challenges.

Due to the relatively low number of executions carried out under the current DPP administration, the KMT has also accused the party of de-facto abolition. The ministry said this is a misunderstanding in the media and in society.

KMT legislative candidates in Taichung question the DPP and Lai Ching-te's stance on the death penalty on Monday. (CNA photo)

Kuomintang

The KMT’s presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih（侯友宜）has strongly opposed abolishing the death penalty, in line with presenting himself as a “law and order” candidate. During a televised debate aired on Dec. 30, only Hou said directly that he was opposed to abolition, and he has since increased calls on his DPP counterpart to clarify his own stance on the issue.

Hou’s running mate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) also called on the DPP to clarify its stance. On Friday, Jaw said if the DPP wants to change the law, it should do so quickly, and accused the party of trying to avoid the issue, per FTNN.

In addition to Hou’s clear support for the penalty, legislative candidate for Taipei’s Daan district Wang Hsin-i (王欣儀) has become a prominent voice in the death penalty discussion this election. On Sunday Wang launched an attack on her opponent Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), who previously worked as the head of a death penalty abolition alliance.

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Wang highlighted the murder of her own sister, for which the killer received the death penalty. Wang continued her attacks on those who support abolishing capital punishment on Sunday (Jan. 7).

The KMT’s Wang Hsin-ih (王欣儀) said it was not death penalty advocates, but the groups advocating for it to be abolished who are inhumane.

Lai Ching-te greets Hou Yu-ih and shakes hands with Ko Wen-je before the Dec. 30 presidential debate. (CNA, Taipei City News Photographers' Association photo)

Taiwan People’s Party

Compared to the other two parties, the TPP has said relativley little about the death penalty. During the December policy debate, the party’s presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said support for the death penalty was culturally ingrained in Taiwan.

Ko suggested life imprisonment without parole could be a substitute for the sentence. In 2022 when Ko was mayor of Taipei City, he said that if elected president, he would carry out executions, per ETtoday.

However, when discussing the issue in May 2023, Ko said that if the death penalty was abolished, supporting measures would need to be put in place by the justice ministry, and outlined a view on the sentence similar to what he described during the policy debate.

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