President Ma Ying-jeou delivered an address on the morning of April 8 in which he discussed the government's determination to stamp out corruption.
President Ma said that recent reports have indicated that high ranking officers in the military, including persons in the Ministry of National Defense and the National Security Bureau, have been involved in cases of corruption, as have certain government officials. The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, Ltd. based in Hong Kong recently released a report on the level of corruption among countries in the Asia region. The level of corruption in Taiwan was surprisingly rated more serious than that in mainland China, according to the report. President Ma said that Taiwan has won great pride for the ethnic Chinese community through its democratic achievements. He said that the shame brought on Taiwan by corruption is unacceptable and is something he personally despises. The president said these instances of corruption have caused enormous harm to the reputations of the government and the military. While they occurred under the previous administration, when the government was run by the Democratic Progressive Party, the new administration cannot shirk its responsibility with regards to stamping out corruption. It is precisely for this reason that the president said he fully supports the efforts made by law enforcement agencies in probing these cases. He said he also expects that not just law enforcement agencies, but also the courts, will stand firm and show no tolerance for any corruption at all. The president said he wants to see that investigations are thorough and the judicial process is swift.
President Ma furthermore said that clean government is not just a slogan, but rather is something that must be fully carried out. The president said that he has on many occasions in the past stressed the value of being free from corruption, adding that in addition to investigating crimes that have occurred, government agencies must also do a better job of preventing crimes from happening in the first place. President Ma said that the Legislative Yuan recently passed an amendment making it a crime for defendants in a corruption case to refuse to clarify the source of their assets. He said this marks an important milestone in pursuing clean government. The president commented that as many corruption cases are emerging, failing to aggressively investigate these cases is tantamount to eroding the fundamental democratic achievements and core values of Taiwan. This would let down not only the nation, but also the people of Taiwan.
The President said that cases of corruption should be investigated in a thorough and timely manner no matter what political party is under investigation or how high the investigation may lead. He repeated that he could not overstress how important it is that administrative and judicial agencies get to the bottom of all cases regardless of the political party background or the rank of the official or officials implicated. These investigations must be carried out with no delay, he said. He added that any person or agency that is involved in delaying an investigation, shielding specific persons or being partial to certain parties should be punished. The president also said that ample resources should be provided to law enforcement and judicial agencies to ensure they have sufficient manpower and resources to handle these cases in a short timeframe. For that reason, the president said that he is demanding that judicial and administrative agencies carry out thorough investigations within their respective units. He called on these agencies to provide reports within three months reviewing major corruption cases and outlining proposals for reforms in various systems, so as to meet the people's aspiration to eradicate corruption and to establish a corruption-free nation. The president also said that all government agencies must prioritize efforts to ensure ethical standards, prevent corruption and bring order into the administration.