After more than two decades of debate, Taiwan will soon form a body modelled on Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption to crack down on graft in the island's civil service.
But without the independent status enjoyed by the ICAC, the future of the agency - part of the Justice Ministry - has been called into question even before its establishment.
Embarrassed by a recent spate of bribery scandals implicating police and judicial officials, President Ma Ying-jeou declared last month that he planned to set up an anti-graft department similar to the ICAC or Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.
'I am determined, very determined, to build a clean government,' Ma said. 'I can't tolerate it if even one civil servant tramples on the law.'
His announcement came just a day after the island's judicial chief, Lai In-jaw, resigned to take responsibility for the detention of three judges and a prosecutor suspected of taking bribes in exchange for the acquittal of a former legislator.
On July 13, more than 100 investigators raided 34 locations and also searched the offices of the High Court. They later detained high court judges Lee Chun-ti, Chen Jung-ho and Tsai Kuang-chih and prosecutor Chiu Mao-jung after hours of questioning. They were accused of accepting bribes while handling a corruption case involving former Kuomintang legislator Her Jyh-huei.
Her had twice been found guilty of accepting bribes in connection with the development of a science park in Miaoli county he formerly administered. He was sentenced to 19 years' jail in 2006 but the sentence was cut to 14 years in 2008 after Her appealed. That prompted another appeal, which led to the high court's abrupt not-guilty verdict in May this year.