Taiwan: On the road to abolition

In a bold statement, Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng said she’d rather take the place of a death row prisoner than sign one execution during her term as minister.

In what many hope will be the beginning of a campaign to make the death penalty illegal in Taiwan; the minister (pictured right) went on to say that the public would agree if she gave a clear explanation of her plans for long-term imprisonment to as opposed to the death penalty. 

The minister acknowledged that the existence of capital punishment could make people feel better, but in practice it was unable to deter criminals.

During Chin-feng’s term the number of executions has dropped dramatically, with no deaths since December 2005. 

The Chinese press have highlighted criticisms of the minister's position, but many Taiwanese are now calling for the dormant law to be eradicated once and for all.