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Taiwan ranked No.32 in `CPI'

"Taiwan is regarded as a `middle integrity' country in the CPI."

Chilik Yu, executive director of Transparency International's Taiwan chapter

The Taiwan chapter of the international non-governmental organization (NGO) Transparency International (TI-Taiwan) yesterday published the 2005 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which ranked Taiwan 32nd among 159 countries.

"Although Taiwan this year ranks better than last year's number 35, the country made little progress in the CPI in the last 10 years, as its rankings have swung between number 25 to 35," said Chilik Yu (余致力), the executive director of TI-Taiwan, at the organization's press conference yesterday.

"Taiwan is regarded as a `middle integrity' country in the CPI," Yu said.

Yu said Singapore has the best ranking in Asia at No.5, while Hong Kong is ranked 15th and Japan 21st.

Yu said China is on a downward spiral, falling from 66th in 2003 to 71st last year, and a low ranking of 78th this year.

Su Yiu-chen (蘇友辰), secretary-general of the Taiwan Bar Association, told the press conference that the results indicated that serious corruption has been one of the side effects of China's rapid economic growth.

Another panelist, Chen Chun-ming (陳俊明) a professor in the department of public policy and management at Shih Hsin University, noted South Korea's impressive performance in the CPI this year. The country made the most progress, climbing seven positions to No.40.

Chen said South Korea has fought against corruption in recent years and has obtained substantial results.

He warned that serious political scandals in Taiwan this year would affect the country's performance in the CPI next year, South Korea has a good chance of leapfrogging the nation in next year's rankings.

Hung Yung-tai (洪永泰) of National Taiwan University's political science department said that, according to the CPI and similar surveys he has conducted in Taiwan, politicians are at their most corrupt during election periods. He urged the government to address this problem.

According to recent CPI surveys, Taiwan ranked 35th last year among 146 countries, 30th in 2003 among 133 countries, 29th in 2002 among 102 countries and 28th in 2000 among 90 countries.

The survey ranked Iceland first this year, Finland second and the US was ranked 17th.

Yu said Transparency International is a NGO devoted to combating corruption, which brings civil society, business and governments together in a global coalition.

He said the CPI ranked 159 countries this year on the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, drawing on 16 polls and surveys from 10 independent institutions carried out among businesspeople and country analysts, including surveys of residents, including locals and expatriates.
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