tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post8172578661769408287..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: China's Expansionist Passport Fallout for its relationship with Ma Administration?Michael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-36565440192917973502012-12-20T10:14:26.396+08:002012-12-20T10:14:26.396+08:00If I recall, the gang rivalries ceased in the face...If I recall, the gang rivalries ceased in the face of a two anti-organized crime sweeps that put the heads of the gangs in prison together, where they could work out a truce and agree to a form of power and resource sharing cooperation. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-6238864659400726132012-12-20T04:13:32.130+08:002012-12-20T04:13:32.130+08:00"David graphs murder rate against death penal..."David graphs murder rate against death penalty use in Taiwan. Taiwan plans to ring in the Lunar New Year with executions."<br />David wrote, "The data pretty much speaks for itself. The number of murders peaked in 1996 while the number of executions peaked in 1997."<br /><br />So he's saying that when people commit fewer murders, the government reacts by not executing as many people?<br /><br />Another way to read the data is to say that there was a big change in government in the early to mid nineties that lead to a temporary spike in murders (and general lawlessness) as gangsters et al worked out the new power structures, followed by a steady decline. <br /><br />I would like to see the numbers for the years prior to 1992 because the fertility rate in Taiwan has been steadily declining for decades and it is well known that young men commit most murders. If you have a society with fewer young men, or perhaps fewer young men as a portion of society, you get fewer murders.<br /><br />I'm not saying I like the death penalty. I think too many mistakes are made. But I find it hard to believe that the death penalty causes people to murder, and I don't believe the graph does anything to change that.Readinnoreply@blogger.com