Under-fire Taiwan in anti-graft drive

Popular discontent with graft in Taiwan after a quarter-century of democracy has led the government to sniff out shady public servants and boost the island's image as a clean place for investment, its top anti-corruption official said.

Motivated by a public demand for stamping out graft, from a few dollars paid to customs workers as "tea money" to European junkets at public expense, investment-thirsty Taiwan is stiffening laws while checking every citizen complaint and chasing its own leads.

Cleanliness counts, because Taiwan competes vigorously with its Asian neighbours for investment to sustain an export-reliant economy, the world's 26th largest. Taiwan wants to be seen as a place with clear, consistent rules for business, despite mounting complaints of graft and a recent critical report by a non-governmental organisation.

"We hear from a lot of people, from all walks of life," said Chu Kung-mao, director-general of the Justice Ministry's Agency Against Corruption. "We get letters every day. Some people see acts with their own eyes."

In the nearly two years since Taiwan created Chu's agency, 5,937 complaints have been filed, 1,070 with enough evidence to follow up. Of those, 210 went to prosecutors, and 114 ended in indictments. The inflow of complaints has been steady over the past two years, Chu said, and his agency has added 2,190 more suspected cases based on its own information.

The government's Anti-Corruption Act carries a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment.