Probably the truest words ever written on this site…
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Some of the nicest, kindest and smartest people I know are from a country where you can “fix” a deadly car accident with a member of the lowest caste by paying ~10 USD to the police. The police/ judicial system of a country often operates very differently than you would expect as an outsider.
If the insiders accept that or at least they are so used to it that they accept it well, that country is then a real bad place to live in, regardless of its people.
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The only area with true law and order is solid-blue Taipei. Which is why I am sometimes entertained with pro-green foreigners being so anti-KMT until they need law and order. Outside of Taipei City – the local gentry are peasant minded and being a foreigner is exotic (and thus provides job opportunities) but not necessarily safe.
Its Pingdong it’s like the backarse of Poland, not all of Taiwan is the same.
You need a good lawyer and some connections in places like that. In fact for any criminal case you should always hire a good lawyer.
Also the police are a fucking joke in Taiwan you can’t depend on them for anything.
OK. Maybe I will get bashed for my beneath comment.
Something really bad happened to you, and the best news is you got extremely lucky to be alive and apparently living a normal life again.
No doubt those people (or just the one who stabbed you) are assholes, but what is the point to put him/them behind bars ?
Why are you “wasting” your time to fight against this law system, which likely indeed is corrupted ?
We all know that “money” is all about her in Taiwan, especially for the local Taiwanese nothing is more important than their bank accounts.
Why are you not try to settle, and reach a high amount in exchange to skip the criminal case ?
In my opinion you have the advantage here in your hands and you can save yourself a lot of time and nerves and just move on with your life.
Those people likely don’t have that much money anyway and likely will depend on their family help.
And I am sure they will try to avoid everything possible not to risk going to prison.
You yourself wrote sth about 600k in compensation ~ ask for much more and just see their reaction(s).
BBMT has a point here. Eastern and Middle East cultures seem to be ok with blood money. Ask for 1.3 million NT in lieu of jail time.
I personally prefer them go to jail for attempted murder (over 10 years in prison) as not only they deserve it, but I will be making Taiwan a better place. These 4 cowards waited for more than 2 hours until I left the water to ambush me and without mercy all 4 at the same time hit me all over, even stabbing me when they saw that I was blocking their hits while giving them a hard time. I would not wish this to happen to anyone and by accepting a bribe they and any other who hear about it would think that its ok to do it as you can get away with it. Fuck that, I let this already clear in Court twice.
By the way, negotiation is only possible if they do not get convicted of attempted murder. I was asked already in case the ruling gets for just battery, but if its attempted murder the state steps in and sends them to Prison regardless.
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I understand your point, but this is Taiwan, not Europe. Justice is not a concept is most of this place.
Then we should all walk with weapons around here?
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I remember an old timer here (who taught me a hell of a lot about Taiwan) telling me a story about catching a thief breaking into his house in the act. He beat the shit out of him. In the end, the Taipei police intervened and mentioned the thievery was balanced out by the assault. In places in the US, someone is trespassing-- you can shoot to kill. My point is that your notions of EU and first world justice, however noble, are misplaced.
Hey, if you throw in a little “and they have absolutely zero corruption” and say it with a straight face, you can get a job doing PR for the Cambodian government. Not sure if Taiwan wants to market itself the same way, but I suppose you can try. 
Ever heard of a self fulfilling prophecy?
If corruption succeeds in keeping criminals out of jail, at least it can be exposed to the world. Sunshine and all that. 
That was the police avoiding work or acting like judge and jury. In my case they were just family or friends with the 4 attackers. The police is corrupted here, no doubt about it. We´ll see about the judiciary system.
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Btw, in a small town, I wonder how many people are related within the 8th degree of kinship. 
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=C0010001
See Art. 17 to 26, 200, and 379.
http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=B0010001
See Art. 32 to 39, 331, 469, and 496.
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I think that the Judge is fair, just the police did not investigate and told the defendants to bring themselves the weapons (so they brought different ones or after being cleaned). The police is clearly corrupted due to what they said, but I don´t think the same about the Judge. For now…
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The people that come up short in this kind of system and have the means to do so often emigrate. See the huge Asian diasporas in the US, for instance.
I don´t blame Trump for its immigration views.
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yes, but things that are not classed as such
I am not saying there is zero corruption in Taipei City. I am saying that even with corruption, there is still some semblance of law and order. Cross the river into Taipei County or the rest of Taiwan – you ain`t in Kansas anymore. 