Publication Date：02/06/2012
Source： Taiwan Today
By Grace Kuo
Eighty-three percent of those surveyed in two recent polls said corruption has decreased since ROC President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008, according to the Agency Against Corruption under the Ministry of Justice Feb. 4.
“When asked to rank the degree of improvement on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being most outstanding, 58.6 percent of those interviewed rated improvement levels at 5 or above,” the AAC added.
“Staff at motor vehicles offices, medical personnel at public hospitals and public servants are deemed to be the most honest officials, in that sequence,” the agency said.
According to the AAC, businesses that attempt to influence government officials are thought to be the most corrupt group in Taiwan, followed by the Legislative Yuan, the two major political parties, the judicial system and the military.
Vote buying, influence peddling and taking bribes were said by respondents to be the most intolerable forms of corruption. When asked to rate how severe problems were in these three categories on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most severe, the average scores were 6.41, 5.7 and 4.46, respectively, according to the AAC.
“These results indicate there is still room for improvement in building a cleaner government,” the AAC said. “We will continue to push for corporate integrity and social participation, while strengthening the prevention of conflict of interest measures and the implementation of anti-corruption laws.”
The surveys were conducted by Transparency International’s National Chapter in Taiwan in June and September last year. More than 1,200 people over 20 years of age were interviewed by telephone. The polls had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of sampling error below plus and minus 3 percent. (HZW).
