★
Voice of America,
2022-11-23: "black
gold"-"heijin."
Corruption in Local Politics
/
The term directly translates to "black
gold" but most in the audience understand that it refers to
corruption, vote buying, or illicit money used for political purposes... vote buying, and even
candidates with ties to organized crime have been hard to erase completely in
more rural areas...
in Nantou, because it is relatively rural,
buying votes is actually very serious, I would say prevalent
voanews.com/a/taiwan-struggles-to-shake-off-era-of-corruption-in-local-politics/6846530.html
brief
★
Economist, 2022-8-2: Taiwan needs to
do more to combat corruption and
waste in its armed forceseconomist.com/leaders/2022/08/02/nancy-pelosis-trip-to-taiwan-highlights-americas-incoherent-strategy
★
Axios, 2022-6-28:Scandals and corruption have
plagued the Taiwanese armed forces
axios.com/2022/06/28/taiwan-military-defense-weapons-china-invasion-threat
★
United Daily (Taiwan),
2022-12-24:various surveys show that the No.1
public-grievance about the admin. is corruption and "black gold"
(現階段台灣民眾最不滿意的施政項目是貪腐與黑金)。by
member of
Membership Accreditation Committee,
Transparency Internationaludn.com/news/story/7339/6861292?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★
United Daily (Taiwan), 2022-12-11:
In midterm election, corruption and vote buying
used by pan-Green is as serious as those in pan-Blue camp, but the prosecutors
and investigaton units on the side of the ruling party (pan-Green)...
(「綠營絕對沒有買得比較少，也不是技術比較高超，而是檢調系統已向綠營無限靠攏！」) udn.com/news/story/123137/6830163?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub123137_pulldownmenu_v2
(反滲透法查賄 學者：不能無限上綱)
udn.com/news/story/123137/6830165?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub123137_pulldownmenu_v2
★Transparency International,
Germany / Global Corruption Barometer, released
in2022 -
comparisons among main Asian countries
country
people who think
government
corruption
is a big problem
public service
users
paid a bribe
in the previous
12 months
public
clinic,
health
centres
utilities
police
gov.
officials
local
gov.
officials
judges,
magis-
trates
corruption
level
increased
in previous
12months
Taiwan
90%
17%
9%
28%
67%
19%
20%
15%
38%
Japan
84
2
2
4
10
7
26
6
36
Malaysia
71
13
5
11
30
28
16
12
20
China
62
28
26
17
16
18
18
13
39
S Korea
55
10
6
14
8
26
42
24
17
transparency.org/en/countries/taiwan
★ Global
Times, 2022-9-28, 2022-9-25
In 2022, the overall "diplomatic
budget" of Taiwan reached $936 million, which includes
$41 million "classified budget" to bribe and support anti-China forces and their
activities overseas.globaltimes.cn/page/202209/1276026.shtml
...profits to US politicians via covert means
like buying over their family, NGOs
/
under the pretense of universities and
research institutions, whose "white gloves"
have given legitimacy to high-profile
receptions - first-class
flights, luxury hotels, leisure and
entertainment, and paying exorbitant
"commission fees."
...
civil groups(e.g.,
TSMC, China Steel Corporation, I-MEI Foods
Co Ltd and CHIMEI
)
extent invitations to US politicians but the
DPP authorities eventually pay them using
public assets, to
escape US congressional constraints... globaltimes.cn/page/202209/1276326.shtml
★ US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
released at 2022-4-12(state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/):
nIn
2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won
re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying
by candidates and supporters of both major political parties. n13
high-ranking officials, 79 mid-level, 93 low-level, and 18 elected officials
were indicted for corruption. nthe
Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Yuan referred six officials to the Control
Yuan for criminal investigation, including former minister of justice Tseng
Yung-fu, former prosecutor general Wu Ying-chao, and two others for
investigation of noncriminal misconduct, including Supreme Administrative Court
judge..., the Judicial Yuan referred six former judges
to the Control Yuan for investigation of noncriminal misconduct. the
Ministry of Justice investigated 77 other incumbent and former judicial and law
enforcement officials implicated in similar behavior with the same
businessperson. na
senior investigator of the Ministry of Justice's
Investigation Bureau was indicted for corruption for allegedly profiting from
the sale of narcotics worth more than 168 million New Taiwan dollars ($5.6
million) seized in law enforcement investigations over eight years. nthe
mayor and the council speaker of Pingtung City were convicted of corruption and
sentenced to seven and four years in prison, respectively, for colluding with a
private contractor to misappropriate 2.4 million New Taiwan dollars ($80,000) in
public funds over three years.
★aljazeera,
2022-5-30: Taiwan legislature erupts in violence over
"secret expenses" bill /
KMT lawmakers try
to block bill they say could be used to overturn ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s
corruption conviction.
Lawmakersarmed with signs and loudspeakers,pushed and shoved each other and threw water and paper
(fake money) to prevent a third reading of the bill.
Chen was found guilty of misusing funds by fake
receipts etc. brief from aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/30/brawl-breaks-out-in-taiwan-legislature
United Daily, Taiwan, 2022-5-31: A formal member of
Special Investigation Division
says if losing the
last line of defense, there would be no law to punish president's connecting
public monies with a private or personal burse...
udn.com/news/story/122808/6352386?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub122808_pulldownmenu_v2
★ United
Daily, editorial
, 2022-7-17: The DPP
decriminalizes the case of president's secret expense (國務機要費案)
so that current president and next presidents won't get any legal trouble any
more in the future. It's a shame that the government covers the
corruption, the legislative and the judicial system both give service to it.
(政府行政護貪、立法為惡、司法助虐)
udn.com/news/story/7338/6466748?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★ China
Times, editorial
, 2022-7-17: Some political party with admin. or
executive power is happy to take bribes from interest groups and work for
them... officials with administrative power can earn profits from bribery or
political contributions/donations (掌握行政大權的官員同樣可上下其手，直接受賄或是在政治捐獻中獲取利益)
chinatimes.com/opinion/20220716002628-262101?chdtv
★China
Times, editorial
,
2022-6-1, "The whole DPP party backups corruption,
a shame of Taiwan's democracy":
When the corruption scandal broke out in 2008, all DPP
members gave
ex-President Chen Shui-bian a cold
shoulder,
Chen's daughter
陳幸妤 was mad and shouted："Has
anyone in DPP not taken money from my father ?? ", which shocked all fields,
therefore, pan-Green Coalition has been involved in Chen's case.(綠營因此遭扁綁架事出有因)。chinatimes.com/opinion/20220531004670-262101?chdtv
★China
Times, editorial
,
2022-10-29: A rotten "with no limit"
government's CovID-19 epidemic prevention policy.
(防疫政策無底限的貪腐)
chinatimes.com/opinion/20221029003036-262101?chdtv
★
US
Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
,
2021-3-30
state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/ Significant
human rights issues included: the existence of criminal libel laws and serious
acts of corruption.
Authorities prosecuted officials including incumbent and former legislators
involved in a high-profile bribery case.
★
Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process: there were
allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political
parties (KMT and DPP) in Presidential election.
Section 4. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government: There were
reports of official corruption during the year. In the year to May, nine
high-ranking officials, 59 mid-level, 75 low-level, and 18 elected people’s
deputies had been indicted for corruption. In September the Taipei
District Prosecutors Office charged incumbent legislators Su Chen-ching of the
Democratic Progressive Party, Liao Kuo-tung and Chen Chao-ming of the
Kuomintang, and former New Power Party legislator Hsu Yung-ming with accepting
bribes to assist a businessman in regaining control of the ownership of a
department store chain. In addition independent legislator Chao Cheng-yu was
indicted in a separate bribery case involving two funeral services companies and
a plot of land in a national park. These cases were pending trial.
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices, 2021-3-30: There were allegations of vote buying by
candidates and supporters of both major political parties (KMT and DPP) in
Presidential election in 2020.
N.Y. Times,
12-1-2019: the
soft underbelly of
Taiwanese politics: patronage networks.
They continue to
allow
community leaders, farmers’ associations and even
organized-crime figures to buy votes
( NY Times, opinion :
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/opinion/china-taiwan-election.html
).
vote buying
in Taiwan
★Transparency International,
Taiwan ranks No. 7 in
Asia & Pacific in 2021
★
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2021 Global
State of Democracy
(idea.int/gsod/sites/default/files/2021-11/spotlight-on-taiwan-gsod2021.pdf) SPOTLIGHT ON TAIWAN
corruption cases, some of them highprofile, have continued to emerge, one of
the most serious being that of five MPs from three political parties, the DPP
and KMT included, charged with accepting bribes from the ex-Chairman of a major
investment firm in violation of the 2007 Anti-Corruption Act—a case viewed by
some as highlighting Taiwan’s weak record on regulating political lobbying.
★
United Daily, editorial,
2022-1-30:DBS buying Citi (credit card business)
reflects the embarrassing facts of Taiwan... How the
government's reform policy has become a tool of politicians' corruption (星展買下花旗消金，映出台灣難堪事實...
政府改革政策如何淪為政客貪瀆工具) udn.com/news/story/7338/6070463?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
★
According to Global
Corruption Barometer, Transparency (https://www.transparency.org/en/countries/taiwan
test at 1-27-2021), 90% of people think
government corruption is a big problem, 17% of public service users paid a bribe
on the previous 12 months.
Taiwan scored 65 points out of 100, rank 28th on the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index
reported by Transparency International in 2020. According to
USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, there were reports
of official corruption during the year. Ranking officials, 72 mid-level,
115 low-level, and 11 elected people’s deputies had been indicted for
corruption.
★
United Daily, editorial, 2021-9-17: The
DPP (ruling party)
continues their downward trend- becoming more and more mouthpiece and
dividing the spoils / share the booty (民進黨愈來愈一言堂化及分贓化的趨勢)
udn.com/news/story/7338/5752268?from=udn-catebreaknews_ch2
★
★Taiwan's
corruption scandal - reported by all Taiwanese media in 2021
pic.:
Taiwan's biggest rotten case in legal system ―
"Formosa TV news, 1-19-2021: Taiwan's biggest
judiciary scandal of the century" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziv67-PbtHo
),
"Apple Daily, 1-19-2021:
rotten & stinky judiciary shakes Taiwan to the core" , "China Times,
1-19-2021: Taiwan judiciary crashes" etc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziv67-PbtHo
★★
★Transparency International,
Taiwan ranks No. 7 in
Asia & Pacific in 2020
★
★
CTV news, 2021-4-28:
The
Chairman of the board of BCC,
Jaw
Shaw-kong's speech in KMT (Nationalist party)
Central
Committee says KMT politicians get dirty money by spoons, DPP politicians get
dirty money by
excavators. (new.ctv.com.tw/Article/藍貪污用湯匙-綠用怪手-趙少康轟民進黨-以黨竊國-中視新聞-20210428)★
At
Aug. 2, 2020, top presidential aide resigns amid nephew's ( a DPP
lawmaker ) bribery allegations. The
image of parliament and Taiwan's democracy worsen after some lawmakers, the
leader of New Power
political party were involved corruption and were
'court hears request to
detain'
at 8-1-2020. Corruption in parliament seems never end ( United Daily
8-3-2020 ), lawmakers of same party shared
illegal benefits or covered each other, and usually won't disclose political
rivals' greasy palms, that's Taiwan's political culture and 'ecology'.
( Apple Daily, editorial, 8-3-2020
https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200803/BQXMSWTYOVERHBPGLUKPXAA5LQ/)
N.Y. Times 12-3-2019:
soft underbelly of Taiwanese politics:
patronage networks.
they continue to
allow
community leaders, farmers’ associations and even
organized-crime figures to buy votes.
★
pic.: The sites group was ranked No.1 by
"corruption in Taiwan" onYandex
of Russia , 2022-7-17, 2022-3-25, 3-12-2020, No.2 at 9-13-2020, 1-11-2020;
pic.: The sites group was ranked No.1 by
"Taiwancorruption " onYandex
of Russia , 2022-5-31, 2022-3-25; No.2 "Taiwan corruption" onYandex, 2022-7-17, 10-25-2019; No.3
"Taiwan's corruption" on Yandex, 2022-9-25; No.4 "corruption in Taiwan" ,
2022-9-25
pic. left:
The sites group was ranked No.2
"Taiwan corruption " on
Bing
, 2021-5-9; No.5
"Taiwan corruption
" on
Bing,2022-9-25; No.ˋ "corruption in Taiwan" on Bing at 2022-10-9, 2022-5-31
pic. right: The
sites group was ranked No.2
"Taiwanese corruption" on
Yandex of Russia
, 2022-7-17,top 3
on
2021-8-9, 2021-5-9; No.2 "Taiwan's corruption"at 2022-1-30, No.3 "Taiwanese corruption" at 2022-1-30
pic.: The sites group was ranked No.1 by
"corruption in Taiwan" onUS
Bing , 7-26-2019, 11-28-2018 , No.2 at
3-12-2020; No.5 at 2022-10-9
★
★The China Times
(chinatimes.com/opinion/20200806005356-262105?chdtv),
opinion (8-7-2020): Originally the
parliament
provides effective checks and balances on
the power of president, but
6-times amendments of the Constitution by former president Lee T. H. eliminated
the key mechanism of democracy, balance of powers, therefore leads to endless
corruptions - the "Sunshine Law"
trickly Justifies taking bribes, and a weird phenomenon - the premier takes the responsibility but
lacks of power, the president hold the power but no responsibility.
Apple Daily 9-13-2020: The
dark networks those wealthy businessmen created can make the administration, the
parliament, the Control Yuan and the judicial system to take care of the
'missions' they gave, e.g.,
the over-the-counter (OTC) stock and
Interest Arbitrage Transaction are good tools to control the officials. Taiwan's
judicial reform has not achieved the goal. https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200912/XRWWTEZPLBGARBFFHQVXMYCH2Q/';https://tw.appledaily.com/forum/20200912/NAQP67HBRRAP5LZ3ZW4AFWTAEQ/
In platform presentation at 12-25-2019, corruption is main issue to
debate, Nationalist Party (KMT) Presidential candidate Han criticized Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) candidate current President Tsai has allowed top
officials around grow very corrupt, Tsai refuted KMT was more serious, People
First Party candidate Song said that speaking of corruption and unfair
judiciary, KMT and DPP are about the same. United Daily
1-8-2020, editorial: The ruling party has been good at collective dividing
the spoils ... the judicial system and investigation gov. have been obsequious
and dared not to investigate the power and the richness
(brief).
★
Taiwan is a rotten country. Transparency International 1-29-2019: Taiwan has
stagnated in the Corruption Perspective Index rankings since 2011 with its score
61~63 (dropped 2 spots this year), in contrast, South Korea improved by 3 points
in 2017.
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices (4.20.2018, 3.3.2017, 4.13.2016, 6.26.2015) pointed out
Taiwan's
Principal human rights problems
includes official corruption. The
number of high-ranking officials'
corruption in 2016 report is about double of that in
the previous year.
Transparency International (Taiwan)
1-8-2020: Taiwan highest ranking - president and P.M. should declare
determination to get rid of corruption, put transparent process into practice,
to make judicial system understand what to do ! ((brief)
apple daily, 曹耀鈞)
Taiwan scored 63 points out of 100 on the 2018 Corruption
Perceptions Index released by Germany's Transparency International in 2019,
dropped 2 positions compared to that of previous year.
US Country Reports on Human Rights practices
(4.20.2018) pointed out the justice ministry was
insufficiently independent and conducted politically motivated investigations of
politicians.
US Country Reports on Human Rights practices
(3.3.2017,
4.13. 2016) stated
the judicial system suffered from some
corruption. corruption and diminish
political influence in the judiciary problems remained.
Taiwan high-ranking officials were on
corruption charges on this year.
According to Transparency International's
report at 2-21-2018, Taiwan's Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI) scored 63，ranked Asia No. 7. Apple Daily of Taiwan at
2-23-2018 reported Taiwan's GDAI is placed in Band
B.
The
United Daily,
editorial9-28-2019:
The government uses prosecutors & investigation office, or minister/admin
officers, legislators to shield its grafts or malfeasances,
to help the crooked wind of corruption
and harm social justice (udn.com/news/story/11321/4071079). UDN<聯合報>,
opinions, 11-1-:low-ranking
officials' mean conduct(s) also is Taiwan's important index of integrity,
some of them can only be charged by "the crime of confidential information
leakages" instead of "consideration relationship (quid pro quo)"。Apple Daily (12-7-2018) editorial : Taiwan's corruption is off the charts
by collusions between government officials and business owners,
furthermore, Taiwan's underworld going wild to assist government officials,
business and some
elected representatives (e.g., legislators) in corruption has been ahead of
most corrupt countries, e.g., China, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam, the stinky
rotten food-chain crossing pan-Blue (Nationalist, KMT) and pan-Green (DPP)
resurges after Taiwan's
elections ... Apple Daily (7-25-2019, forum): Taiwan's National Security
system's smuggling reveals collective corruption culture.
United Daily (8-25-2018 <聯合報>): Transparency International's former president
Jose Ugaz pointed out that new form corruption is "Grand Corruption" (top
officials crimes), which needs judiciary and people working together to fight
that huge connections. According to national report
(聯合國反貪腐公約國家報告), five international experts of reviews committee advised
that Taiwan should restrict political donations (from bad to worse) from private
corporations, and amend related laws - Companies and Corporations Act.
Apple Daily opinions at 7-13-2019 criticized that
four
obstacles
resulting in Taiwan's
anti-corruption system failure on parliaments (democratic body) include (1) Taiwan president has not
taken this issue seriously, (2) the information on judiciary documents (judgments
and conclusions) are not transparent enough, and (3) the parliament itself opposed
administration controls (4) the voters don't care ...
The finding of the 2013 Global
Corruption Barometer (GCB, Transparency
international) shows Taiwan is the 18th
worst corruption country, <Apple
Daily> (7.11.2013):
survey found 75.07% Taiwanese people
think corruption in Taiwan is actually
worse than GCB's report.
National Chung Cheng university's survey
(head-page of the Liberty Times, 2-23-2016) found: nearly 80% Taiwanese
people are
not satisfied with government's
measures against corruption.
Apple Daily (2-4-2017
editorial): Taiwan's anti-corruption system retreated,
the
anti-corruption strategy is not overall so that it is difficult to root in our
bureaucracy, government information's transparency
is not enough ... (Transparency Org. Taiwan, professor楊永年)
According to
2013 survey (Dec. 10, 2013)
conducted by
The
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD )
&
Shih Hsin University
(SHU), Taiwanese respondents
gave
only 1.8 points (a "F" score on rate
0.0~5.0 points) to the
nation
on "non-corruption in government" item.
(Taiwan
Judicial system)
Corruption
in Taiwanese officials field is even
worse ( more serious
) than that in China's officials circle
in last year, and
about same score as China this year,
according to a survey by PERC , which
was reported
by most Taiwan's news
media. Taiwan's CPI
(Corruption Perception Index, by Germany
based Transparency Int'l) rankings in
recent 3 years are worse than those in
1998-2000 by about 8-9 positions in
average.
Corruption is not only
throughout Taiwan's military, police, education systems,
Parliament/legislation, Public
officials/civil servants, political
parties,
religious circles, media, also lies in the judiciary & high court judges.
It seems Taiwan has not
decided to rooting out or even really fighting against corruption
( already proved to be one
of the hardest tasks to achieve).
< The Economist >of UK
(2010) stated 3
high-court judges and a prosecutor had
been detained
amid allegations that they took
bribes to fix the outcome of a
high-profile case, has brought
Taiwanese
public outrage to boiling point.
However, Taiwan has not repented its corruption for a long time,
Legislators ( similar to senators or
congressmen in the US ) only
passed a reform bill with handicapped
function
― only under "
certain condition", judicial investigation
into government employee's foggy/unknown
property is allowed ―
so that
legislators (or other people in power) can continue
taking a bribe.
The reasons Taiwan had
not really held a large anti-corruption
campaign also include :
(1)
Taiwan government is afraid of loss in
political elections.
(2)
The arrested suspects may disclose
many more (other) "partners" implicated in the
case, so that Taiwan government can't
handle it well.
etc.
Taiwan's latest announcement by
president
― the
formation of a
new commission to
battle corruption, is
criticized/questioned by all major
newspapers in Taiwan.
Media suggested Taiwan must takes
lessons from successful experiences of
Singapore's <Corrupt Practices
Investigation Bureau> and Hong
Kong's <Independent Commission
Against Corruption>.
(1) New commission
must has the power to judicially investigate
into government
official's origin of the surplus money,
as long as their income is more than
normally they can earn .
(2) New commission
should be at high position, i.e.,
is affiliated to Taiwan's president, so
as to not be hobbled by
foxy people in power or by a debt of gratitude.
(3) New commission
functions independently.
(4) New commission's
members have no any relation or
connection with
bureaucratic systems and dirty money network so as to implement the plan
neutrally.
(5) Legislative Yuan
(the national legislature) must backs budgets for New commission,
so that Legislators and high ranking
officials in power won't be able to threaten them.
(6) Needs a watching
mechanism to avoid New Commission
working on wrong purpose, i.e.,
selecting specific or minor or wrong
targets and turning a blind eye to
others.
But Taiwan's new commission
has
none of above .
So, Apple Daily News, most popular news
in Taiwan, concluded at July 21 that
New Commission is useless, forget
about it !
Taiwan scored 63 points out of 100 on the
2018 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by
Transparency International. Taiwan dropped 2
positions - now is ranking No. 31 (same position
as Brunei Darussalam) and was ranked No.29 in previous
year. Taiwan's best ranking record is No. 25.
Other Asian countries rankings are : No.2 New
Zealand, No. 3 Singapore (scored 85), No. 14 Hong
Kong, No. 18 Japan, and so on.
Corruption Perceptions
Index 2018
★ <The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
>, released at 4-20-2018
The most significant human rights issues
included corruption . The justice ministry was insufficiently
independent and conducted politically motivated investigations of politicians.
Taiwan's
corruption_perceptions_index (CPI) scored 63, ranked Asia No. 7, next to world
No.1 new Zealand (score 89)、world No.6 Singapore (score 84)、No. 13 Aistralia、13
Hong Kong、20 Japan、26 Bhutan，Taiwan ranked world No. 29 ( same as
Portugal、卡達)，top 5 countries are New Zealand, Denmark (score 88), and 3 No.3
(same score 85) Finland, Norway, Swiss, USA got No.16 (score 75 ).
★
★
Apple Daily,
12-7-2018,
editorial : Taiwan's corruption is
off the charts by collusions between
government officials and business
owners, furthermore, Taiwan's
underworld going wild to assist
government officials, business and some
elected representatives (e.g.,
legislators) in corruption has been
ahead of most corrupt countries,
e.g., China, Indonesia, Brazil,
Philippines, Vietnam, the stinky
rotten food-chain crossing pan-Blue (Nationalist, KMT) and pan-Green (DPP)
resurges after Taiwan's
elections ... ( 黑金復辟
"Taiwan's Stinky Corpse Politics and Corruption
Alliance",
https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20181207/38199252/)
...
★
★
Apple Daily,
5-12-2018, Focus comments (https://tw.appledaily.com/forum/daily/20180512/38011358
林達)
Terminate
Taiwan's image, a "corruption is
innocent" empire - Taiwan High
Court judged a case (asking 200 million
dollars and raked off 40 million for
herself) not guilty, Taiwan's related
law has numerous loopholes, Taiwan needs
a Gratuity Law as the US 18 U.S.C.
& 201(c) as soon as possible.
★
★
Apple Daily,
5-15-2018, Focus comments
Consideration relationship
(“quid
pro quo",
對價關係, " something for something.")
is the exit door for suspect crimes
committing corruption to escape.
★
★
<GDAI Government Defence Anti-corruption
Index>, ref to Apple Daily at 2-23-2018
Taiwan is placed in
Band B of GDAI, with robust controls against
corruption across risk areas. Robust frameworks for oversight combine with clear
evidence of efforts to ensure a strong ethical culture.
Taiwan is placed in Band C for Operations and
Procurement Risk. Personnel risks scored Band A .
◎
★ <The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
>, released at 3-3-2017
One of principal
human rights problems is official corruption.
201 officials, including 23
high-ranking officials, on corruption
charges. A survey conducted in
July by the Crime Research Center of
National Chung Cheng University found
that 76 percent of respondents were
dissatisfied with authorities’
anticorruption efforts.
Types of exploitation
included migrant workers becoming
victims of domestic violence and
official corruption.
Taiwan received score 61, one
point less than the previous year, on the
Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016 published by Transparency International.
World No.1 countries, Denmark and New Zealand got score 90. Singapore
got the highest score (84) and highest ranking (No.7) among Asian countries, Hong Kong at No.15 with 77 points and Japan at No.20 with 72 points.
◎
◎◎
★ <The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2015>, released at April 13, 2016
One of principal
human rights problems is official corruption.
Taiwan judicial system suffered from some
corruption. Although authorities made
efforts to eliminate corruption and diminish
political influence in the judiciary, some
residual problems remained.
Authorities indicted 285 officials,
including 22 high-ranking officials, on
corruption charges during the year.
◎
★
<Heritage Foundation> & <WallStreet
Journal>, 02-02- 2016 （2016 Index of
Economic Freedom）
The score of
Freedom From Corruption is down
in this
year's report.
Debates about the proper scope of
government in welfare policies continue,
and upward pressures on public spending
keep the budget in deficit. The rigidity
of the labor market and lingering
corruption continue to hold back overall
economic freedom...
★ <The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2014>, released at June 26, 2015
Corruption
and Lack of Transparency in GovernmentShare/
Some legal scholars and
politicians alleged that the Ministry of
Justice was not sufficiently
independent, claiming that ministry
authorities conducted politically
motivated investigations of politicians.
authorities indicted 687 officials,
including 69 high-ranking officials, on
corruption charges during the year.
There were no reports of impunity.
◎◎
★
PERC’s 2015 Report on
Corruption in Asia,
Asian Intelligence Reports Index 4-1-2015
http://www.asiarisk.com/subscribe/exsum1.pdf
corruption within Taiwan remains a very sensitive issue that could be
politicized more the closer the time comes to the next elections. The new mayor
of Taipei, a political independent, has been very popular because of his
initiatives to reduce the opportuntiies for corruption at the municipal level.
He is focusing on shortcomings that both major political parties have tended to
gloss over, and this could cause these issues to get a lot more attention in the
future, especially if he makes changes that produce positive results ?or are
seen to do so.
Ranking and scores in Asia:
Singapore 1.33, Japan 1.55, Australia 2.61, Hong Kong 3.17, Macao
4.58, USA 4.59, Malaysia 4.96, Taiwan 5.00
2015
Index of Economic Freedom - Taiwan
overall score 75.1, a relatively
high level of
perceived corruption and a rigid
labor market still restrain Taiwan’s
overall economic freedom.
◎
★ <The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2013>, released at Feb. 27, 2014
(1) 573 Taiwanese officials — including
39 “high-ranking” officials — were indicted on corruption charges.
Among those indicted include former Executive Yuan
Secretary-General Lin Yi-shih (林益世).
(2) Judiciary : the judicial system
suffered from corruption, and that the impartiality of judges and prosecutors
involved in high-profile and politically sensitive cases had been questioned.
◎
★ <Transparency International>, 12.2.2014
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2014: Taiwan
got score 61 (same as previous years, 2014, 2013, 2012).
◎
★
<Heritage Foundation> & <WallStreet
Journal>, Jan. 15, 2014
Index of
Economic Freedom, 2014
1. Taiwan's declined in the following index :
Freedom From Corruption (
59.7 declined); Business Freedom (93.9);
Monetary
Freedom(81.7);Labor Freedom(53.1);Government
Spending(84.7);Fiscal
Freedom(80.3)
2. Taiwan has significant improvements in
financial freedom and investment freedom outweighing small declines
in six of
the 10 economic freedoms including freedom from corruption...
◎
★
PERC’s 2014 Report on
Corruption in Asia,
Asian Intelligence Reports Index Mar. 19,
2014 by
POLITICAL & ECONOMIC RISK CONSULTANCY LTD (HK based)
1. Taiwan's corruption index
declined
Asia's ranking status:
1 Singapore (score 1.6), 2
Japan(2.08) , 3 Australia(2.55) , 4 Hong
Kong(2.95),
5 USA(3.50) , 6 Macau(3.65) , 7
Malaysia(5.25), 8 TW(5.31),
9 S. Korea (7.05), 10 Chn(7.10)
2. High-position officials including KMT
and DPP both in serious
corruption status. Taiwan's
judiciary system failed to strike
systematic corruption, e.g., Tai-chung
High Court judge Hu (胡景彬)
taking bribery.
◎
★
United
Daily News (11-4-2015) / 安永
2015-EY-asia-pacific-fraud-survey
2015's
EY-asia-pacific-fraud-survey found 80%
Taiwanese think corruption and bribery
are widely-spread in Taiwan, the
percentage (80%) is higher than the
average number (60%) of Asia & Pacific
area.
◎
★
<Transparency
International>, Germany, July
9, 2013
The finding of the 2013 Global
Corruption Barometer (GCB), ( the
Gallup Poll to interview 114,000 people
in 107 countries all over the world): 36%
of people (surveyed in TW) who had
used any of eight government services in
the past year had
paid a bribe (the number is
higher than global average).
<NOWnews> , (7.10.2013)–
Taiwan is
the 18th worst corruption country in 95
countries surveyed. (重度貪污國家第18名)
<Apple
Daily> (7.11.2013): Apple daily's survey
found 75.07% Taiwanese people think
corruption in Taiwan is actually worse
than GCB's report.
◎
(1)
◆
Percentage(%) of respondents who
felt these institutions were corrupt/extremely corrupt in this
country/territory
75% of respondents in Taiwan who felt that
parliament/legislature( the
Legislative Yuan)
were corrupt/extremely corrupt ;
74% political parties; 62% media;
57% judiciary;
56% police; 56% military; 56%
public officials and servants;
47% medical and health services; 45% educational systems;
44% business; 33% religious bodies; 31%
NGOs( non-governmental organizations)
(2)
◆To
what extent do you think corruption is a
problem in the public sector in this
country/territory?
7%: not really a problem;
27%: a slight problem;
35%: it's a problem; 31%: serious
problem
(3)
◆
Have you or anyone in your
household paid a bribe to one of these 8 services in the last 12 months?
35% judiciary; 21% medical and health services;
16% educational systems; 16% police;
15% tax revenue; 15% registry & permit
services; 17% utility; 11%
land service;
(4)
◆over
the past 2 years how has the level of corruption in the
country/territory changed?23%
decrease a lot; 48% decrease a little;
17% stayed the same; 9% increase a little;
3% increase a lot
(5)
◆How
effect your government actions are in the fight against corruption?
very ineffective: 14%; ineffective: 32%, etc
(6)
◆
Institutions perceived by
respondents to be among the most affected by corruption?political
party: Taiwan is one among 51 countries of 107 perceived political party
to be among the institutions most affected by corruption.
parliament & legislature: Taiwan is one among 7 countries of 107
perceived parliament & legislature to be among the institutions most
affected by corruption.
(7)
◆To
what extent do you agree that ordinary people can make a difference in
the fight against corruption?
51% agree; 28% disagree; 8% strong disagree; 13%
strong agree
ps: 2013 Corruption Perception index TW
rank 36 score 61 same as that in 2012
(Singapore 5, HK 15, Japan 18)
◎
★ USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,
April 19, 2013
One of the
principal human rights problems reported
in Taiwan 2012 were judicial corruption. “Although the authorities made efforts to eliminate
corruption and diminish
political influence in the
judiciary, some residual problems remained,” the report
said.
The report also said that political commentators and academics
had publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and
prosecutors involved in high-profile and politically
sensitive cases.
(CNA) Taiwan was ranked 37th among 176
nations and regions in an annual global
index on the perception of corruption in
the public sector,
dropping five spots from last year,
In 2011, Taiwan was ranked 32nd among
183 nations and territories. China
remained in 80th place with a score of
39 - which means Failure.
(Reuters) In Transparency
International's
2012 Corruption Perceptions Index,
Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied
for first place out of 176 countries -
meaning they were perceived to have the
lowest levels of state sector
corruption. Sweden was fourth with
Singapore ranked as 5th.
◎
★ USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,
May 24, 2012
it
highlighted the problem of corruption in
Taiwan, saying more than 400 officials were
indicted on corruption charges in the past
year, including 54 high-ranking officials.
In addition, it said the judicial system
in Taiwan “suffered from some corruption.”
The impartiality of judges and
prosecutors involved in high-profile and
politically sensitive cases was being
questioned by some political commentators
and academics, the report said.
◎
★
Amnesty International, London, UK,
annual report The State of the
World's Human Rights 2012, May 24, 2012
The authorities did little to protect
the housing rights of farmers across the
island, at times colluding in their
eviction. Migrant workers were unable to
freely change employer. Domestic migrant
workers and care-givers were often
forced to work without adequate rest.
The media exposed abuse and exploitation
of migrant workers by government
officials and celebrities.
◎
◎ Taiwan ranked (19th) in the lower half of TI's
2011 “Bribe Payers" index, finishing 19th among the 28 countries
surveyed
◎ Taiwan fell from 14th place in the index released
in 2008, when 22 countries were scrutinized.
◎ The Berlin-based organization asked 3,016
business executives in 30 selected countries how often companies in the
countries polled engaged in bribery. ◎
★
< Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC) >Mar. 21,
According to PERC,
Taiwan's
corruption grade (5.45) is behind Asia&Pacific
No.1 Singapore (0.67)、No. 2
Australia(1.28)、No. 3 Japan(1.90)、No. 4 USA(2.59) 、Hong
Kong(2.64)、Macau(2.85), Taiwan (5.45) ranked
No. 7(same as 2011), then No.8 is Malaysia(5.59)、No.9 Thailand(6.57)、 No.10
Lau柬埔寨(6.83)、No.11 S. Korea(6.90) 、No. 12 China(7.00). The grade
10 is worst, 0 is best.
◎
★
<Apple Daily News>, Taiwan, Dec. 5, 2012
Acording to "2012 Taiwanese Human Rights index
survey" (conducted by 中華人權協會), 17.9% Taiwanese think Taiwan's overall human
rights in progress, 36% think it is in retreat,
25.8%
Taiwanese think Taiwan's political human rights
in retreat, 17.1% think it is in progress,
38.4%
Taiwanese think Taiwan's
judiciary
human rights in retreat, 13.1% think it is in
progress.
◎
★ <Taiwan News>,
Dec.
5, 2012
according to
"2012 Taiwan Human Rights Indicator Survey",
about 53.5 percent of the
respondents gave the protection of judicial human rights a
negative rating, compared with 21.4 percent who rated it
positively.
◎
★
<Taipei Times>, Taiwan, Dec.
8, 2012
Public feels human
rights deteriorating
DISSATISFACTION:
Official corruption, the government’s inability
to fill people’s needs and media independence were top public concerns,
according to a survey of public opinion by the government-affiliated Taiwan
Foundation for Democracy (conducted by Shih Hsin University),...
Corruption was the target of the greatest public dissatisfaction, scoring
1.9 points. It was followed by the government’s ability to respond to
people’s needs, which garnered 2 points, and external
interference in judicial rulings, at 2.1 points.
Taiwan ranked 32 on the corruption perception index ranking released by
Transparency International, but still lagged behind some of its more
economically advanced neighbors, such as Japan and Singapore.
Taiwan received a grade of 6.1 [on a scale of one to 10] on the
corruption perception index ( Asia's ranks : New Zealand 9.5, Singapore 9.2
, Hong Kong 8.2, Japan 8.0).
To improve Taiwan's rank, the government must launch a long-term
education campaign to raise citizen awareness of the values of clean
politics and governance, besides, the government and the legislature must be
more cautious in handling issues related to government officials' special
allowance funds, etc.
ps: Editorial <Apple daily news> : ... but, dirt still
hide in local engineering cases ... very hard to catch...
◎
★ USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,
April 8, 2011
There
were still problems with corruption (
police corruption's limited but still a
problem )
◎
★ Amnesty International, London, UK,
annual report The State of the
World's Human Rights 2011, May 13, 2011
Taiwan was criticized over issues to
do with the
death
penalty, freedom of expression,
justice ( also voiced concerns over
the slow progress to enact a
judges' act to
address corruption scandals involving
high court judges and over the
working conditions of migrant workers.) and migrants' rights.
◎
★ <The
Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street
Journal>, USA,
Jan. 12, 2011
Taiwan's "Freedom from
Corruption"
scores 56 ( which is
worst
since 2007), Taiwan's economic
freedom score is 70.8, ranked 7th
in the Asia–Pacific region.
◎
score 5.9
score 5.5
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
2009 2010
Taiwan's corruption index by year,
Transparency International, Germany
pic. above: Taiwan's human rights - corruption records are better in 2001, 2005, 2006
than records recently.
◎
Taiwan's
corruption sorting list: worst
― Police: 3.9,
Parliament/legislation: 3.8,
Public officials/civil servants :3.8,
Political parties : 3.5, military:
3.4, judiciary3.3 , Media ,
Education systems : 3.2
ps: Taiwan's news media in
Dec. 10, 2010
<Liberty Times>
seems to report all fields, but skip Public officials/civil
servants,
military
and
education systems；
<United Daily
News> only reported the worst field
― police；
<China times> reported worst 4
fields.
World Corruption Index:
Singapore No.1, Australia No.8 (score
8.7), HK No.13 (8.4), Japan No. 17
(7.8), Qatar No.19 (7.7), US No.22
(7.1), Taiwan No.33 (5.8)
Taiwanese people
think in the past 3 years Taiwan's
corruption: stayed the same 35%,
increased 42%, decreased 23%
ps: <the Liberty Times>:
Increased & Stayed the same about 77%
...... Taiwan's corruption is
still serious ...
◎
★
<The Economist> UK,
July 22, 2010
The article under the theme of （Corruption
in Taiwan--Confirming the worst
suspicions） reported :
Three
high-court judges and a
prosecutor had been detained
amid allegations that they took
bribes to fix the outcome of a
high-profile case, has brought
public outrage to boiling point.
The case is Taiwan’s
biggest
judicial-corruption scandal in
over a decade.
“The
significance of this case is
that it makes all the rumours a
reality,”
The country's president, announced the
formation of a
new commission to
battle corruption and
vote-buying.
Such talk is ...
drawing comparisons to
Singapore’s Corrupt Practices
Investigation Bureau and Hong
Kong’s Independent Commission
Against Corruption. But, unlike
those bodies, the Taiwanese
commission will
not report
directly to the president, but
only to the justice ministry,
where tangled
bureaucracy and
civil servants who are
deferential to their political
bosses could limit action.
In any case, complains the
opposition Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), and
various experts, such a
commission will be toothless as
long as it is nearly impossible
to sack bad judges and
prosecutors. An act calling for
such a mechanism has long been
stalled in parliament.
◎
★
<USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices>
March 11, 2010 www.state.gov
One out of 4 major Taiwan's human rights problems :
Taiwan's corruption by officials
◎
★
<The Economist> UK, Jan 22nd
2009"Political
corruption in Taiwan"
Taiwan expert at Monash University in Australia, points
out that recent corruption
investigations have mainly been aimed at
opposition politicians; prosecutors seem
far less interested in investigating KMT
(Taiwan's 'Chinese Nationalist Party' )
figures.
◎
★
< Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC) >
2009 : The corruption of Taiwan is more serious than that of China.
March 2010 :
Taiwan's corruption
grade (6.28) is behind Asia&Pacific No.1 Singapore(1.42)、No.2
Australia(2.28)、
No.3 Hong Kong (2.67)、No.4 USA(3.42)、No.5 Japan(3.49)、No.6
Macau or Macao (4.96)、No.7 South Korea(5.98) , China's grade 6.52
Inside Taiwan, national political leader's
grade 8.07, metro & local political
leader 7.53, central officials 5.4, local officials
4.49 (translation from Chinese
newspaper)
March 22, 2011 :
Taiwan's corruption index :
among Asian & Pacific countries,
Taiwan is behind Singapore (No.1),
HK, Australia, Japan, USA, Macau
(Macao)
POLITICAL & ECONOMIC RISK CONSULTANCY LTD (HK based), March 22, 2011
(1) Founding that : most serious corruption lies in Taiwan's top-position
leaders and government's metro./city reconstruction units.
(2) Taiwan's
reform against corruption remains no good.
reported by Taiwan's Apple Daily, Mar. 23, 2011
◎
★
<New York Times> USA
July 27, 2009
Beijing officials have viewed Taiwan as a renegade
province ever since the Nationalists retreated to
the island upon losing China's civil war to the
Communists in 1949. The reunification of mainland
China and Taiwan has long been the mainland's top
goal in relations with the United States, Taiwan's
closest ally. ......
But his party (KMT) has a history of corruption and thuggery so ingrained that when Mr. Ma tried to
investigate illegal deals while justice minister in
the mid-1990s, he quickly lost his job and
temporarily had to leave politics......
◎
★
<Transparency
Org. Taiwan > Dec 9, '05
Taiwan Corruption Index :
Parliament 78%, political parties 69%, Custom 61%, Military 48%, Police
45%, Legislative 43%, Power & Water 41%, Taxes 35%,
Medical 32%,
Education 25%, Media 19%, Religion 16%, etc (Taiwan corruption is lousy,
Gallup 2006, Transparency Org. 2007 )
◎
No.2 "corruption in Taiwan" on google, 9-12-2017;
No.1 in google, test on Jan. 11, 2015, Sept. 14, 2010, East time
No.1 on Google, test on Jan. 11, 2015, Dec. 15, 2013,
Dec. 4, 2012, Jan. 11, 2012, Feb. 14, 2011, Sept. 14 &
Nov. 22, '10
◎
★
<Apple
Daily News>, Taiwan
◎ Editorial ："Hope 期待廉政署公正嚴厲" , July 19, 2011
... Anti-corruption
Commission's ranking is comparatively too low,
... most likely will become
a tool for political struggles, ... particularly during important political
election campaign period ... without a reform/'revolution', we can not
root out thousands years' Chinese corruption culture ...... first of all the new
commission will investigate the police and
judiciary......
◎
◎
Comparison with Hong Kong's Independent
Commission Against Corruption.
July 30, 2010（趙少康）
The Last British leader of Hong Kong's
<Independent Commission Against Corruption> (before 1997) stated HK's
experience:
(1) To establish public confidence ―
first of all, take a hard-line to strike biggest
target, i.e., select the leader of police in HK (UK).
(2) 24 hrs hot-lines, accept anonymous denouncements as well.
(3) To enlighten people with anti-bribery education.
◎
◎ " new commission looks
pretty, but useless"
July 21, 2010
According to successful experiences of HK as well as Singapore, New
Commission will functions well under 4 conditions as below :
(1) New commission is affiliated
to Taiwan's president, ....
(2) New commission
employs new-blood members ...
(3) High conviction rate ...
(4) New commission
can take the initiative in judicially
investigation officials' origin
of the surplus money, as long as their
property are more than normal.
The New Commission will leads to chaos or will be useless, so, just
forget about it, we don't believe this solution.
◎
◎ President doesn't quite know
Taiwan's corruption July 17, 2010
The reasons Taiwan had not really held a
large anti-corruption campaign include :
(1)
political factor: anti-corruption
may affects political elections, or just
set some examples, all depends ...
(2)
benefit factor: The arrestee may leaks out many other
officials implicated in the case,
particularly in the case a group of
officials involved are accomplices
(joint offenders).
◎
◎ Taiwan's untruly reform
July 22, 2010
Anti-corruption
campaign is working only on the condition of :
1. New commission is affiliated to
Taiwan's president, must be in high place.
2. independently.
3 members are outsiders of old
bureaucratic system.
4. can check the origin of the surplus income.
New commission has none of the above.
◎
◎ One more fat
rat July 21, 2010
a cute picture : Taiwan's police rides bike to collect bribery money , The
Investigation Bureau drives car to collect money, high-court judges
collect money by earth-movers, ... as for the New Commission, will drive a
container truck to collect money ...
Moreover, maybe no one dares to sneer New Commission's weirdo things in the coming
future ...
◎
★
<
the China times>
◎ Aug. 26, 2010
We sincerely hope Taiwan's politicians
no longer take legislation as tools or even
sacrifice/compromise legislation for political
struggle/conflict.
◎
◎ Taiwan's fighting
against corruption ... far behind Taiwanese people's expectation.
August 11, 2010
◎
◎ Key-point is resolution, not one
more commission July 30, 2010
In the past 20 years,
Legislative Yuan
( the national legislature )
etc worried New Commission will be
a big trouble for them, scholars/experts questioned New
Commission is just a duplicated unit, which will be
used for political struggle/conflict or not working
at all.
... officials give covers to officials each other ...... money is the
greatest value of them ...
◎
◎ We give you a <New
commission>, you give us judicialreform
July 30, 2010
【劉孔中】
Setting up a new Commission is just the 1st step, it must follows with a judicial
reform, this is almost a consensus nationwide.
While DPP government days, KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party of Taiwan) was against setting up a <new commission>, now
it's KMT time, KMT changes their mind and plans to set up <new commission>
.......
◎
◎ new Commission,
a "tool", or just a false reform
July 21, 2010
President has been announcing several times Taiwan urgently needs a reform
bill
―
investigation into officials' foggy income/property, but Legislative Yuan has not
passed it till now.
The key to succeed the
anti-corruption campaign is (1) passing a reform bill (2) making close
investigations (3) a good watchdog mechanism
Taiwan government needs downsizing, but now Taiwan is planning to create a
new commission ... it's contradictory ....
◎
◎ a cleanHK (UK), but not
any more July 25, 2010
Hong Kong’s Independent Commission
Against Corruption is no longer working excellent since HK's hand over to
communist China.
◎
★
<
The United Daily News>, Taiwan
◎ the key-point is short of
public confidenceJuly
21, 2010
The Investigation Bureau has been under political control/influence for a
long time.
The leader of Investigation Bureau or prosecutors is not unbiased
( not admirable ) ...
how are Taiwanese confident on or give credence to them ?
◎
◎ Eager for a clean
government July 20,
2010
Singapore people respect their government, but Taiwanese have been criticizing
Taiwan's government for a long time.
◎
◎ Aug 1 , 2010
We may need jury system (of the US., UK, France).
◎
◎ July 9 , 2009
Officials taking money is not guilty, what is
Legislative/judicial
system trying to say ??
◎
★
< the Liberty Times>, Taiwan
Aug. 26, 2010
◎ Legislative/judicial
reform
must start from the government leaders, first
of all, move political
dirty hands away from legislative circles ....
July, 2010
◎ Many confessions or pleading
guilty are done by tricks or other black-heart measures ... we hope no more victims in the
future.
◎
If Taiwan
government really wants a clean country this time, they should
investigate into CTV etc cases (Chinese
namely,中廣、中影、中視等「三中」案)
.
◎
Legislative Yuan
(the national legislature)
must respects and
supports budgets for the New Commission.
◎
★
<
Taiwan News> July 30, 2010
( Johnson Chen )
It's a cheap-copy of
Hong Kong's <Independent Commission
Against Corruption>.
Three similar-function "commissions" will
struggle, confrontation and conflict each other.
◎
★
Taiwan's Corruption lies in
major
fields :
Parliament 78%, political parties 69%, Custom 61%, Military 48%, Police
45%, Legislative 43%, Power & Water 41%, Taxes 35%, Medical 32%,
Education 25%, Media 19%, Religion 16%, etc (Corruption index by Transparency Org. Taiwan
couple years ago)
◎
◎
Google No.1 ranking "Taiwan corruption" (Chinese
language) , Feb. 14, 2011, and Aug. 8, 2010
◎
World Media viewpointson
Former President of Taiwan Goes on Trial for Corruption
◎
★
<Washington
Post>, <Newsweek> USA
Democracy and Dirty Money in Taiwan
August
18, 2008
You have to love what's happening in Taiwan. Yeah,
..... the former President of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, has just been banned from leaving the
island and the Swiss are investigating a bank
account that contains $20 million.
Chen, the first opposition candidate to become
president of Taiwan, came into office promising to
clean up what is known on that island as the culture
of "hei qian" or dirty money. Hmmm.
...... The Taiwan story is remarkable, however, not just
because it involves the fall of failed president but
because it is happening at all.
It underscores the
fact that Taiwan's democracy, while still plagued by
corruption, is trying to keep it house clean. As
such it's good news for Taiwan and, who knows,
perhaps good news for the many Chinese on mainland
China who look to Taiwan and its political system
with some hope and maybe a little admiration. Could
this happen in China, too? (John Pomfret
)
◎
★
<New York Times> USA
Former President of Taiwan Is Detained in
a Corruption Inquiry November 11, 2008
◎
The former president paused briefly before television
cameras, raised his arms and defiantly shouted, “Long
live Taiwan!” and “Political persecution!”
Mr. Chen, one of Taiwan’s most controversial
political figures, ...
Mr. Chen has suggested that prosecutors are focusing
on him to win favor from Beijing..... (By
DAVID BARBOZA)
◎
★
<New York Times> USA
Taiwan’s Former President Goes on Trial for Corruption
March 26, 2009
But Mr. Chen .... has maintained the charges are a plot
by Taiwan’s current president,
Ma Ying-jeou, to win favor with China’s government.
...“In order to win favors and protection from Beijing,
the KMT”......
Although the evidence against Mr. Chen is strong,
some analysts say the government’s handling of the case
has been less than deft. Prosecutors were criticized
after they participated in
a skit before Justice Ministry officials that
clearly mocked Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen has won sympathy by
claiming that his detention without bail — and, at
first, without any contact with his family — has been
unjustly harsh.
“The prosecutors have been going a bit wild, and how
this trial is conducted will be critical,”...... “This is an important
landmark in Taiwan’s whole process of democratization.”
(
By
MICHAEL WINES )
◎
★
< The Times> UK
◎
★
<New York Times> USA Sept.
11, 2009
...... Mr. Chen blasted the proceedings as a "tool
for political suppression and persecution" by his
successor......
Mr. Chen was the first politician outside the
Kuomintang to become president of Taiwan, after he
helped lead a pro-democracy movement that opposed
martial law and other strict measures put in place
by the Kuomintang. Martial law was not lifted until
1987, and the island's first multi-party elections
held in 1996. Mr. Chen had strongly campaigned
against the corruption that many Taiwanese saw as
widespread within the Kuomintang, which retreated to
Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war to the
Communists in 1949.
(Michael Wines)
◎
★
<TIME> USA, 2009
Chen (former president of ROC Taiwan) insists his case is one of political
persecutions by the new Kuomintang administration, which has been forging closer
ties with China since coming into power ......
In some ways, Chen's trial is a positive sign that the justice system
is alive ...
◎
★
<BBC> UK
Taiwan court rejects
Chen Shui-bian corruption appeal
11
June 2010
... He denies the charges and has said he is
being punished by the pro-Beijing government for
his independence views ...
His supporters say the current Taiwanese
government - which favours closer relations with
China - is persecuting the former president for
upsetting Beijing by pushing for formal
independence while he was in office.
... The government has insisted Chen's case is
being dealt with according to the law, says our
correspondent.
Taiwan has been ruled separately from China
since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949,
...... But Beijing sees the island as a breakaway
province which should be reunified with the
mainland, by force if necessary.
◎
★
<New York Times> USA
Corruption Scandal at Top Tests Taiwan's Democracy
November
25, 2006
At times, Taiwanese politics is a blend of opera and
blood sport, and this is one of those times. Scandal and
outrage, lying and humiliation -- all of it messy and
delivered in a loud, public fashion -- are consuming
political life here, as a virtual death watch has
settled over the second term of President Chen Shoo-in.
''In 10 years, when we look back, this could be a
turning point for Taiwan's democracy to become mature,''
...... ''Right now, it is a disgrace, and
it is quite humiliating. But once we get past this, I
think Taiwan's politics will get a lot cleaner.''
Politically, Taiwan's symbolic power has always been
as a democratic counterpoint to China. But democracy in
Taiwan remains a work in progress that has been
repeatedly challenged during Mr. Chen's tenure. The
pivotal recent event occurred Nov. 3 when a prosecutor
in Taipei, the capital, indicted the first lady and also
announced that Mr. Chen, immune from prosecution as
president, could face charges after he left office. For
a judicial branch regarded as a weak constitutional
pillar, it was a historic moment.
''This is very hard evidence that at last we have a
fair and independent-minded judicial branch,'' ...... ''The
principle of separation of power has taken root in
Taiwan.''
◎◎
★
<The China
Post> Taiwan
Problem with corruption is scarring Taiwan's
democracy August 9, 2010
A former president
jailed for graft, a retired head of military police
indicted for embezzlement, three top judges accused of
taking bribes — the list goes on. Taiwan has a problem
with corruption.
"Social values are distorted to the extent that being
clean has come to count as a plus for a civil servant
rather than a basic requirement," said George Tsai, a
political scientist at Chinese Culture University in
Taipei.
“It takes time to eradicate corruption but people's
patience is limited and they are demanding quick
results.
“Corruption in Taiwan is at a critical junction and
the government and people have to do more,”
“Otherwise, politically how can Taiwan say to the
world that its democracy should be followed by others,
especially China,” he said.
“Has Taiwan democracy solved
the corruption problem? No, and
Chen Shui-bian is the best proof
of that,”....
“But if we look at
Singapore
and Hong Kong, they prove that
even without western-style
democracy Asian regimes can
establish good governance.”
(By Peter Harmsen, AFP)
PS: All above are abstractions from original articles in int'l media.
For precise meanings pls refer to Chinese version
article.
