The Lens: Taiwan’s death penalty and its clash between human rights and local feelings

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned execution of an individual for committing a specific crime. Since 1976, more than 85 nations have abolished the death penalty, with human rights organisation Amnesty International stating that it breaches human rights laws.

In January, Taiwan carried out its first use of capital punishment in five years, executing rapist and murderer Huang Lin-kai.

Despite its reputation as Asia’s most liberal democracy, capital punishment remains broadly popular in Taiwan, according to opinion polls.

The execution led to strong pushback from the European Union and human rights groups, with the EU’s diplomatic service calling for Taiwan to abolish the death penalty.

The EU is a leading donor of global humanitarian aid, providing millions of people worldwide with need-based assistance.

With all its constituent countries having abolished the death penalty, the EU should have a right to give opinions on the legality and ethics of the death penalty globally.

The EU is actively developing its foreign policies, which are influenced by humanitarian and geostrategic concerns; hence, it should also be free to get involved in this particular discussion.

The vast majority of Taiwanese citizens support the death penalty as a way to prevent serious crimes. This could be due to the attitude of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang, which strongly supports capital punishment.

Being the largest single party in the legislature, its position on the criminal justice system strongly affects public sentiment.

Furthermore, Taiwan is a collectivistic society that heavily emphasises group harmony. Individuals who disrupt the collective welfare are viewed as deserving of harsh punishment, backed by the need for retribution.

Read up on the issue in last week’s The Lens

According to a recent poll, the vast majority of Greenland residents do not want their island to become part of the United States, as envisioned by US President Donald Trump. Trump has signalled that he wants the Arctic island – which is believed to hold large untapped mineral and oil reserves – to become part of the US.

He has suggested the possibility of using force or tariffs to annex the territory.

When asked if they wanted to become part of the United States, 85 per cent of Greenlanders said no, according to the poll published in the Danish Berlingske and Greenland’s Sermitsiaq dailies.

Six per cent of those polled said they were in favour, and nine per cent were undecided, according to the poll by the Verian agency.

“It’s the first poll that asked a representative section of Greenland’s population, and I think this is very important,” Kasper Moller Hansen, a political-science professor at the University of Copenhagen, said. “I think this poll shows very clearly that they do not want to be American,” he added.

Around 45 per cent of Greenlanders view Trump’s interest in their island as a “threat”, while 43 per cent view it as an “opportunity”. Another 13 per cent are still undecided, according to the poll.

The poll questioned 497 respondents aged 18 and older between January 22 and 26, with a margin of error of 1.9 to 4.4 percentage points.

Greenland has 57,000 residents.

Officials in Greenland, which depends heavily on Denmark for subsidies, have long been pushing for independence but have said they are open to doing business with the United States.

A day after Trump was sworn in as president, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede insisted that Greenlanders “don’t want to be American”.

Staff writers and Agence France-Presse

• Why do you think US President Trump is interested in annexing Greenland? Do you think the US has a right to fight for this land?

• What does the poll signify about Greenlanders’ attitudes towards this dispute?