"Let's Punish Violent Criminals with the Cane"...Taiwan in Uproar as Opposition Pushes for Judicial Flogging

Taiwan Opposition Pushes to Reinstate Caning for Four Major Crimes
Up to 12 Strokes for Child Abuse and Major Fraud

Taiwan's opposition parties are once again pushing a proposal to allow the sentencing of criminals convicted of sexual violence, child abuse, and major fraud to judicial flogging (caning).

According to Taiwanese media outlets, including United Daily News and China Times, Hong Mengkai, the Senior Deputy Secretary-General of the Legislative Yuan from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), announced at a press conference at the Legislative Yuan the previous day that he would introduce a partial amendment to the criminal law containing such provisions.

The draft amendment to be formally introduced by Senior Deputy Secretary-General Hong would allow the court to sentence caning for four major crimes: child abuse resulting in death or serious injury; rape resulting in death or injury; major fraud cases where criminal proceeds exceed NTD 5 million (about KRW 200 million); and death or serious injury resulting from driving under the influence of drugs.

Execution scene of Taehyung in Singapore. Screenshot from SNS

According to the amendment, the court can sentence offenders to 3 to 12 strokes of caning. A medical evaluation and written opinion are required before the punishment is executed, and a physician must also be present during the execution. However, if the offender sentenced to caning is found to have health problems, the punishment can be suspended and replaced with a prison sentence of up to one year.

Xu Yuzhen, Secretary-General of the Legislative Yuan from the Kuomintang, argued that public suffering should not be ignored or victims left to suffer alone in tears simply because caning is controversial or reform is considered difficult.

Human rights organizations have voiced strong objections. They point out that caning, as a form of state-inflicted physical pain and humiliation, may violate international human rights norms that prohibit torture and cruel or inhuman punishment. They also argue that there is a lack of credible empirical evidence that caning is actually effective in reducing crime rates.

Previously, Taiwan’s opposition-majority Legislative Yuan narrowly passed a KMT-sponsored proposal for a national referendum on the introduction of caning on August 14, with 52 votes in favor and 51 against. However, on August 28, the Central Election Commission of Taiwan declared that the proposal did not meet relevant regulations and refused to accept it as a national referendum, causing the move to introduce judicial caning to be scrapped.

Currently, most countries regard caning as cruel, inhuman, and degrading, but it remains a legally sanctioned punishment in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and parts of Africa.

Typically, offenders are caned on the buttocks with a 1.2-meter-long rattan cane, with even a single stroke causing intense pain and torn skin. Receiving more than six strokes can result in victims fainting from physical and psychological trauma, or, in the case of men, even experiencing erectile dysfunction.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.