The government is ready to enforce a law passed on Monday under which businesspeople could be imprisoned for up to five years if they are caught bribing foreign government officials, a Ministry of Justice official said yesterday.
International watchdog groups have accused Taiwanese businesses of frequently using bribes to advance their business deals.
In response, the legislature passed an anti-corruption law, helping the country comply with the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's requirement for across-the-border trade transparency.
"We hope to create an environment that will enable clean and fair competition," said Tsai Pi-yu (蔡碧玉), head of the justice ministry's Prosecutorial Affairs Department.
However, investigating such crimes could prove difficult as Taiwan has only unofficial relations with most countries.
But Tsai said enforcing the law would be possible because other nations are becoming interested in cooperating with Taiwan.
She cited a recent US-Taiwan treaty that allows the two sides to extradite criminals. It also allows investigating agencies to keep part of the assets confiscated from those convicted of money laundering.
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