TAIWAN DEMOCRACY VERSUS CORRUPTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 003126 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/TC, INL/C/CP DLUNA/DKOHN E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016 TAGS: KCOR ECON POL TW SUBJECT: TAIWAN DEMOCRACY VERSUS CORRUPTION REF: STATE 131554 Classified By: AIT DDIR ROBERT WANG, REASON 1.4 B/C ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Taiwan Justice officials see the growing number of indictments of high-level government officials for corruption as a positive sign of both increasing democratization and higher standards of accountability for government officials. End summary. Government Corruption Dominates Taiwan News -------------- ¶2. (C) Reports of corruption among government officials and business leaders is a daily motif in the Taiwan media. On September 7, two of Taiwan's largest circulation daily newspapers each devoted six of 20 pages in their lead section to developments in the multiple campaigns to unseat the President for alleged corruption. We believe that over the past two years a larger percentage of media coverage, as measured in column inches, or minutes of broadcast airtime, has been devoted to the issue of government corruption than to any other single topic. Not Just Media Hype -------------- ¶3. (C) There are more factors behind the barrage of media reports on government corruption than just efforts to sell more newspapers. Official statistics comparing the six years before and after a dedicated anti-corruption task force was established in 2000 show the number of senior government officials indicted for corruption between the two six-year periods increased by about 10% (from 409 to 451) and the number of elected officials prosecuted increased by about 80% (from 290 to 528). In an interview with several district-level prosecutors, AIT learned that in 2004 approximately 10% of Taiwan's 700 district level prosecutors were under investigation for corruption. According to these district prosecutors, the portion under investigation was even higher among higher level judicial officials: In 2005, of Taiwan's approximately 300 higher level judicial officials, 42 were under investigation for corruption, including 31 prosecutors and 11 judges. Official statistics also show that the total number of corruption indictments in the six years before and after 2000 has actually declined by about 10% from 5643 to 5079 cases prosecuted. The trend is toward more indictments of higher level and elected officials, but fewer indictments of lower level officials. ;Signs of Embarrassment... -------------- ¶4. (C) In conversations with AIT, prosecutors and other Justice Ministry officials have expressed some embarrassment at evidence of widespread corruption among their colleagues and co-workers. Taoyuan District Chief Prosecutor Liu Wei-tzong defensively explained that corruption could never be entirely eliminated from government, and that it existed in all governments, including the U.S. government. ... And Pride -------------- ¶5. (C) However, the Justice officials who spoke with AIT also unanimously expressed some pride in the growing number of arrests, indictments, and prosecutions of high-level government corruption. Chief Prosecutor Liu proudly told AIT that most of the corruption investigations against district prosecutors were initiated by fellow prosecutors in their own districts. He mentioned the case of Hsu Wei-yu, a prosecutor in the Yunlin District Prosecutors' Office who was arrested in late 2005 for soliciting bribes, pointing out that it was the chief prosecutor of Yunlin District that had initiated the case against Hsu. Liu argued that this was an example of determination to root out corruption in the prosecutorial system. He believes that corruption is significantly less widespread than it was 20-30 years ago, that Taiwan's prosecutorial system is much more transparent than in the past and is now closely monitored by media, lawyers, and judges. Bah, Humbug! No Stockings Will be Hung at MOJ -------------- ¶6. (C) In a separate meeting with AIT, Taiwan's Minister of Justice, Shih Mao-lin echoed the view that government corruption was no worse today than it had been when he started his career with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) nearly TAIPEI 00003126 002 OF 003 30 years ago. He attributed the increased number of media reports of government corruption to a freer press since Chen Shui-bian's election in 2000 and higher standards of accountability to the public. He told AIT that the standards of integrity for judges and prosecutors were now much higher than during the days of KMT rule prior to 2000. He said the former practice of turning a blind eye to unsolicited gifts was no longer permitted. (Note: Ministry of Justice officials refused to accept AIT's 2006 Lunar New Year holiday gratuity gifts for the first time. End note.) MOJ Anti-corruption Mechanism in Place -------------- ¶7. (C) Minister Shih told AIT that his ministry had established an anti-government corruption mechanism about 10 years ago under which a MOJ official is assigned to every government agency and tasked with reporting any indications of corruption to the MOJ Investigation Bureau and to the Prosecutors' Office. In addition, these officials are responsible for publicizing anti-corruption laws and programs within the agency where they are assigned. ¶8. (C) As an example of how standards of public accountability were changing throughout the Taiwan government, Shih referred to the criticism directed at state-owned China Steel Corporation Chairman Lin Wen-yuan's receiving NT$40 million (US$1.2 million) in dividends. Shih said awarding the heads of state-owned corporations performance-based dividends was not a new practice and was not illegal, but the public would no longer tolerate "public servants" earning great sums of money through their official duties. (Note: This change in attitudes has extended beyond civil servants: According to AIT contacts in medical services, when Taiwan's national health insurance program was getting started ten years ago, health services workers found it difficult to understand why they should not accept gratuities (aka: kickbacks) from pharmaceutical firms for prescribing specific medicines. Now, however, according to our contact, this behavior is generally viewed as improper. End note.) Taiwan Law Enforcement Agencies Overcome Handicaps -------------- ¶9. (C) The Director of the MOJ Prosecutorial Affairs Office Shawn Tsai (Ching-hsiang) told AIT that despite the exclusion of Taiwan law enforcement agencies from most international law enforcement organizations, Taiwan compared well with neighboring economies in terms of fighting government corruption. He explained that Taiwan had been the first economy in Asia to establish laws against money laundering and related white-collar crime, and he highlighted Taiwan's position on the steering committee of the Asia Pacific Group Against Money Laundering. He noted Taiwan's ranking according to Transparency International (TI) had improved from 35th in 2004 to 32nd in 2005 of the 158 economies ranked. Director Tsai argued that Taiwan was even further ahead of Malaysia and South Korea than the TI rankings indicated (Malaysia was 39 and South Korea 40 in the 2005 TI rankings),pointing to the relative transparency of Taiwan government proceedings compared with those of South Korea. (Note: When compared to the 85 economies on the TI listing in 1998, Taiwan has improved from 29th in 1998 to 27th in 2005. According to the international Corruption Perception Index of economic integrity, Taiwan has improved steadily from a ranking of 5.3 in 1998 to 5.5 in 2000 to 5.6 in 2004 and 5.9 in 2005. End note.) Progress Comes with Democratization -------------- ¶10. (C) MOJ Prosecutorial Affairs Director Tsai told AIT that he believed the increased number of high-level prosecutions for corruption was a sign of democratization in Taiwan. He said that in the past prosecutors did not dare to pursue cases involving high-level government officials. He commented that the relative scarcity of media reports on corruption in past years did not mean there was any less corruption, but primarily reflected a less transparent government and less aggressive media. Tsai argued that the increased number of prosecutions and news reports on government corruption demonstrated the progress Taiwan had made in government transparency and public accountability. ¶11. (SBU) The Presidential Office announced on September 7 that President Chen himself and the First Lady, Wu Shu-chen, had been questioned by prosecutors as potential suspects in connection with MOJ investigations into allegations of government corruption in the Presidential Office. TAIPEI 00003126 003 OF 003 Comment: -------------- ¶12. (C) The issue of government corruption is a highly-politicized issue in Taiwan these days. The DPP came to power in 2000 in part because of its promises to root out government corruption, and public outrage over the huge fortunes that had been amassed by the KMT during its decades of one-party rule. While there is some irony that the DPP is now being hoisted with its own petard, and concern among some government officials that the media frenzy over corruption will lead to a loss of trust in public and government institutions, corruption appears to be no worse than in the past, and there also appears to have been progress in government transparency and standards of senior-level accountability to the public. The higher standards that Taiwan leaders are now held to and the higher public expectations of government accountability demonstrate how democracy can create a virtuous cycle of better governance. They also reflect the success of U.S. policies to encourage participatory democracy and political reform in Taiwan. YOUNG