Taiwan sets up special anti-corruption unit

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou Wednesday inaugurated a special anti-corruption body, renewing a pledge of clean government that helped bring him to power more than three years ago. The unit, whose official English name is the Agency Against Corruption, was hailed by justice ministry officials as a "milestone" in the island's efforts to fight graft. Calls for establishing a unit along the lines of Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption emerged more than 10 years ago. But concerns about possible overlaps with the work of other law-enforcement bodies delayed preparations for the agency, until the discovery in 2010 of corruption at the island's High Court added new momentum to the plans. "The scandal last year implicating several High Court judges enabled me to make the decision," Ma told a gathering of about 200 officials and business leaders invited to witness the opening ceremony in Taipei. Ma, who was elected in 2008 partly on a promise to weed out corruption, was referring to the island's worst graft scandal ever to implicate the island's top judiciary. Prosecutors have indicted three High Court judges for taking bribes, seeking jail terms of up to 24 years and asking each to be fined as much as Tw$1.5 million ($50,000). The scandal brought down the judicial chief in July last year. Ma said he did not expect the unit to immediately start arresting large numbers of corrupt officials, arguing he hoped the unit would rather play a role by deterring graft in the future. The move came as the island was hit by a string of high-profile corruption cases implicating top officials from two former presidents to senior judges and generals. Lee Teng-hui, who was president during 1988-2000, was indicted earlier this month for allegedly embezzling $7.79 million from the government -- charges Lee flatly rejected. His successor Chen Shui-bian is currently serving a prison term of 17 years and six months for two bribery convictions. Chen, who stepped down in 2008, has insisted that he is a victim of a political witch-hunt.