Taiwanese celebrity Huang Zijiao purchased and possessed 2,341 indecent videos involving minors on the “Creative Private Room” forum. After reaching settlements and compensating with 37 victims, securing their consent for a suspended sentence, the Supreme Court, upon careful consideration, sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 4-year suspension. Huang Zijiao is thus confirmed not to serve jail time. In response, well-known lawyer Wang Zhide stated with a sense of lament: “The power of money.”
Wang Zhide pointed out that the key for Huang Zijiao’s suspended sentence was settling with each victim and admitting guilt. “Unless the judge dislikes you greatly, or your crime is truly heinous, it’s not surprising to receive a suspended sentence.” He then added with a tone of helplessness: “This is the power of money.” However, from another perspective, Wang Zhide noted that if the defendant is poor, they might not even be able to pay settlement or compensation, which left him at a loss for how to comment on the fact that Huang Zijiao doesn’t have to serve time.
Seeing that Huang Zijiao avoided jail, netizens voiced their strong dissatisfaction: “I think Taiwan’s punishments are too light,” “Never give Huang Zijiao a chance to return to the stage,” “Once again proves that having powerful connections and enough money is indeed the best way to avoid jail,” “No wonder there’s a saying in Taiwan, ‘the wealthy get to live, the poor get the death penalty,’” and “If you can pay your way out, then what’s the point of the justice system?”