Officials at Ministry of Justice (MOJ) on Wednesday said that Taiwan’s efforts to promote transparency in the private and public sectors had to good results.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said that Taiwan had advanced in implementing measures to fight corruption, and prosecute public officials suspected of bribery, financial fraud and money laundering.
Taiwan received positive ratings and praise for its progress from international agencies in the past few years, he added, referring to the result of an evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering in June last year.
The group promoted Taiwan to the highest category, based on an international peer review on government policies and effectiveness to control money laundering, illicit international financial transactions, terrorist financing and financial securities crimes, among others, Tsai said.
Legislators are working on policies to safeguard whistle-blowers and improve an anti-corruption reporting mechanism in the private sector, Tsai said.
“Rooting out corruption and ensuring transparency in government and business are of utmost importance for Taiwan to strive for economic growth and become more competitive internationally,” he said.
“Right now, the Ministry of Justice is prioritizing preventative measures against corruption, bribery and financial fraud. It is better to prevent these crimes and root out the bad elements than to prosecute them after they happened,” Tsai said.
Citing a January report by Transparency International, Tsai said that Taiwan moved up three spots in the organization’s Corruption Perception Index, ranking 28th worldwide with a score of 65, trailing New Zealand (87), Singapore (85), Australia (77), Hong Kong (76) and Japan (73) in the Asia-Pacific region.
To fight corruption, bribery and other illicit practices, ministry officials said they would hold two more Enterprise Integrity Forums in cooperation with the Financial Supervisory Commission.
For this month’s event, it has invited domestic financial services providers, insurance companies, banks, and securities and investment firms, while for the event on Sept. 2, it would welcome foreign companies and their representative offices in Taiwan, alongside small and medium-sized domestic enterprises, the MOJ said, adding that the forums are part of a series that it started last year.
This year’s first forum on July 14 was focused on companies in Taiwan’s international trading sector and included transportation, storage and customs service providers, it said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it