Taiwan: Jason Hu and the Am I Missing Something Department

Thursday February 24, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Jason Hu has been mayor of Taichung for eight years; he was just recently elected Mayor of the expanded Greater Taichung area. During that time, Taichung has gained the top reputation for sleeze, criminality, and all around lack of order in Taiwan. The police have regularly played mahjong with the gangsters, that is until it became too dangerous. When Weng Chi-nan was shot by other criminals, Jason Hu's Men in Blue were seen diving for cover. As a result the games seem to have been suspended. Taichung's police don't mind collecting money from criminals but they really don't want to get in the way of their turf wars.

Recently two college students were wounded when another set of shootings took place under Hu's watch. Jason Hu seems to claim that he will go on the offensive; he was quoted as saying "Now is the time for action not declarations." Say what? Hu is now in his ninth year as mayor, are we supposed to have confidence that he is finally going to do something? Does it take the roly-poly man nine years to decide it is time for action? And if so, what type of action can we expect? Am I missing something here?