BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Transparency International has released its 2013 findings on official corruption and this year Taiwan took it on the chops.
The annual assessments are widely respected, and can influence investment by foreign firms and the evaluations of other international agencies and nonprofits.
For 2013, Taiwan’s politicians and media topped the list of institutions that were considered ‘corrupt’ or ‘extremely corrupt’. According to the NGO’s annual report, 75% of respondents in Taiwan felt that the parliament/legislature was corrupt. Nearly the same number found political parties to be corrupt, while 62% felt the media was corrupt.
Overall, Taiwanese people feel that the level of corruption in their country has decreased only a little. But one survey result in particular sparked protest from the Taiwanese government. According to the results, 35% reported paying a bribe to the Judiciary. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao claimed the results were a “blatant error,” and pointed out that Taiwan had received good rankings in earlier surveys. Compared to previous years, the bribery index jumped from 7% to 35% from 2010 to 2013.
Despite the push-back, Transparency International has stood by its findings. Finn Heinrich, research director of Transparency International Secretariat, said “We have full confidence in the results of the GCB survey, including those for Taiwan.”
So do many others around the world.
For more information see:
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201307090055.aspx
http://www.transparency.org/gcb2013/country/?country=taiwan
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20130714000011&cid=1101
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/07/13/2003567022
well, has anyone considered it might be a clever misinformation campaign by the red Chinese mainland competitor? Similar smear campaigns are known from during the Soviet era.