Taiwan to form anti-graft unit after judges arrested for corruption

Jul 20, 2010, 15:03 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou Tuesday announced his decision to establish an anti-corruption bureau modelled on those in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Last week saw the latest in a series of bribery scandals to hit the country with the arrest of three High Court judges on suspicion of taking bribes to undermine a corruption case.

'I am determined to build a clean government,' Ma said in a news conference, where he presented his plan for a department dedicated to tackling corruption in the civil service.

The judges were arrested in a raid last Wednesday along with a prosecutor for allegedly accepting bribes from a former parliamentarian who was on trial for corruption over a land deal.

The money was allegedly handed over in return for a not-guilty verdict, which would have overturned an earlier conviction by a lower court.

The raid failed to catch the parliamentarian, who was still missing.

Ma, who has vowed to fight corruption since he took office in 2008, said he could not tolerate 'even one civil servant who breaks the anti-corruption law on the island.'

He was prompted to set up the new bureau by the resignation of the island's judicial head on Monday, cabinet officials said.

Lai In-jaw quit in response to last week's scandal, a move widely seen as a blow to Ma's anti-corruption policies so far.

The planned body will be similar to the powerful anti-graft agencies in Hong Kong and Singapore, but under the Justice Ministry not the highest levels of government, the officials said.

A series of graft scandals have hit Taiwan in recent years, including the 2009 conviction of former president Chen Shui-bian for various forms of corruption. Chen could face at least 20 years in prison if his latest appeal is rejected by the Supreme Court.