A report by a Hong Kong consulting firm shows that public perception of the government has improved, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.
However, while Taiwan’s overall score improved, it lagged behind its Asian peers Singapore and Hong Kong, the report showed.
The 2010 Asian Corruption Survey by Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) ranked corruption perception levels in 16 Asian countries on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 as the worst.
Taiwan scored 6.28 — up from last year’s 6.47 — and ranked eighth — up one notch, in terms of political cleanliness.
Civil servants performed better than politicians in the survey, the justice ministry said in a statement. Civil servants working for the central government scored 5.4, while local government workers scored 4.49. City officials tallied 7.53, while national leaders received 8.07.
The ministry, quoting the report, said that corruption remained a problem in Taiwan. However, it said the government has made fighting corruption a priority.
The report said the corruption scandal involving former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his family, as well as vote buying in local elections, were the main reasons why politicians had negative corruption perception ratings.
Singapore remained the least corrupt with a score of 1.42, while Australia was second with 2.28 and Hong Kong third with 2.67. The US — included for comparison purposes — placed fourth with a score of 3.42, while China had 6.52.
“Measuring the level of corruption [in China] is nothing more than guesswork,” PERC said.
“What is fairly clear is that the problem of corruption is more severe at the local level of government and business, particularly state-owned enterprises, than at the national level, although there are plenty examples of graft at the national level too,” it said.
It said Hong Kong’s drop could be caused by to questionable tactics by property developers.
“There are still criticisms of some practices, particularly in the real-estate sector, concerning tactics used by developers that, to be generous, play on a lack of transparency that would not be allowed in many other markets,” PERC said.
Indonesia remained the most corrupt country in the region and graft was getting even worse, PERC said, adding that lawmakers’ call for a criminal probe into the government’s bailout of Bank Century in 2008 reflected attempts by a corrupt establishment to maintain the status quo.
“Corruption has become a charge being used by corrupt people to protect themselves and to stifle reform,” PERC said. “The whole fight against corruption is in danger of being corrupted.”
The report surveyed 2,174 foreign business executives in 16 countries. Rankings are based on a survey in which respondents are asked to rate the level of corruption based on their impressions. The report emphasized that it measured perceptions of corruption rather than the actual level of corruption.
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
RSS