Taiwan has maintained its No. 25 ranking in the global Corruption Perceptions Index, showing that its efforts to ensure transparency in governance are being recognized by the international community, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said yesterday.
Taiwan scored 68 on the index, outperforming 86 percent of the 180 countries on the list, Tsai told a news conference.
Published annually by Berlin-based Transparency International, the latest index was released on Jan. 31, ranking countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption, scoring them on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Photo: CNA
Denmark ranked first with a score of 90, followed by Finland and New Zealand with 87 each, and Norway with 84.
Countries in the Indo-Pacific region that ranked higher than Taiwan were Singapore at No. 5, Hong Kong at No. 12, Australia at No. 13 and Japan at No. 18.
Regional countries that ranked lower than Taiwan were South Korea at No. 31, Malaysia at No. 61, China at No. 65, Vietnam at No. 77 and the Philippines at No. 116.
“Our efforts to root out corruption, bribery and graft have produced these results for the world to see,” Tsai said.
He called on the Ministry of Justice and law-enforcement agencies to keep up the good work, and encouraged them to help Taiwan catch up with Japan and Hong Kong on transparency and ethics in the public sector.
Tsai said “Taiwan’s ranking in the index has been rising over the past few years,” as it ranked between 29th and 31st places from 2016 to 2018, before improving to 28th place in 2019 and 2020.
The nation then moved up three spots to No. 25 in 2021 and last year.
Tsai attributed the improvement to government crackdowns on corruption, as well as probes by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the Agency Against Corruption (AAC), alongside support from other law-enforcement agencies.
The government is committed to complying with the UN Convention Against Corruption, and working with international bodies against money laundering and terrorism financing, he said.
AAC Director-General Zhuang Rong-song (莊榮松) credited the Government Procurement Integrity Platform for the nation’s progress in the rankings.
The platform aims to root out bid-rigging, influence peddling, bribery and kickbacks, as well as the involvement of organized crime in public tenders for major government projects.
Its success in cleaning up corruption in public procurement projects has prompted corporations to work with the AAC and the justice ministry to set up a pilot Integrity Platform for Enterprises Services program to clean up the private sector, Zhuang said.
He said the government has been enforcing the Act on Property Declaration by Public Servants (公職人員財產申報法) that requires civil servants and elected officials — including lawmakers, city mayors and county commissioners, and city and county councilors — to declare their assets, which now includes cryptocurrency and other virtual assets, he said.
That is in addition to tangible holdings including cash, deposits, securities, jewelry, antiques, vehicles, real estate and other forms of investments, he added.
The requirement aims to ensure ethical practices, deter corruption and prevent the acquisition of funds and properties through illegal means, Zhuang said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as