Organized crime and political corruption can seriously damage any nation’s economy. The new straight-talking Minister of Justice, Liao Cheng-hao, tells how life is becoming more difficult for Taiwan’s underworld.
On September 23, Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪), the new Minister of Justice, addressed a meeting of the European Council of Commerce and Trade (ECCT) in Taipei. His subject was the ministry’s continuing efforts to eradicate organized crime and eliminate corruption, which were also high priorities for his predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is now a minister of state.
Liao expanded upon his prepared text when answering questions from the audience. He pointed out, for instance, that according to Ministry of Justice estimate, of 860 elected county-level councilors, approximately one-third had criminal records or close connections with known underworld figures. With reference to this statistic and the ministry’s anti-corruption campaign, Liao said: “If we don’t take adequate measures today, we’ll be sorry tomorrow.”
Liao also pointed out that success in curbing crime and corruption is closely linked to making Taiwan an attractive investment environment. A stable and safe society, he added, is no less essential to Taiwan’s economic competitiveness. Excerpts from Liao’s speech follow.
At the time of my appointment as Minister of Justice on June 10th, I put forward the ten points that will constitute my main goals while in office. The first two of these are the complete eradication of the influence of organized crime and the elimination of corruption. My speech today concerns these goals.
We all know that there are many factors affecting public order in Taiwan. Besides cultural, religious, and ethical factors, the political and economic environment, the growing disparity in wealth between rich and poor, social changes, and changing values are all significant. The most important of these is unquestionably the unhealthy social climate.
We are faced with a society concerned only with instant gratification, where money is the only thing that counts, and where wealth is the basic standard for determining one’s social status. This situation encourages people to employ unethical and illegal methods to get rich quick, and has led to a warping of values and mores. As a consequence, crimes such as larceny, mugging, kidnapping, extortion, and white-collar crimes such as embezzlement, swindling, and breach of trust are all on the rise, creating a serious challenge to public order. Besides this, the activities of a limited number of public officials who besmirch their office ensure that Taiwan’s “red-envelope culture” still survives. [This is a reference to the practice of putting bribe money inside the red envelopes traditionally used for monetary gifts to family and friends on holidays and other special occasions].
In recent years, rapid economic growth has encouraged criminal gangs to improve their organization and enter the commercial arena, engaging in bid-rigging, operating underground credit institutions, and developing prostitution, gambling, smuggling, and other illegal businesses, rather than the protection rackets and extortion that were formerly their main source of income.
There are also cases of gang members operating in collusion with local political factions, using violence to influence election results. Some even stand for election as legislators in order to camouflage themselves and gain a foothold in politics. This allows them to use legal means to protect their illegal activities, and to serve their personal interests by exploiting their status as legislators to “supervise” all levels of government through budget reviews and other actions. This can cause considerable damage to society.
There is no escaping the fact that the growth of organized crime and money politics has already had a serious effect on the maintenance of public order and the development of the democratic rule of law. It can be seen from attacks in the media, and from the general public’s dissatisfaction and calls for action, that organized crime and money politics are a major cause of concern. As far as the actual effects of organized crime and its involvement in politics are concerned, they take various forms, but I believe the most serious is the assault on the public’s right to freedom from fear.
One can see quite clearly that the spread of organized crime’s influence has retarded economic growth. It has had negative effects on the construction of transport infrastructure and on public order, besides affecting the authority and credibility of the government and the general tone of democratic government. If this continues, the public will eventually lose all faith in the government. This tumor on the body of democracy cannot be allowed to grow bigger. There should be no doubt that the eradication of organized crime and its influence in politics is the most important task facing the government at present. For me personally, as Minister of Justice, it is an even more pressing responsibility.
In practical terms, the methods of dealing with organized crime can be divided into legal and executive measures.
First, strengthening the legal system. The Prevention of Organized Crime bill, Money-laundering bill, and the revision of the law concerning the apprehension of hoodlums all need to be passed as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Justice presented a draft of the Organized Crime bill to the Executive Yuan on August 8th; it is now being reviewed by the Legislative Yuan. The Money-laundering bill has already undergone review by the relevant committees of the Legislative Yuan, and the revision of the law concerning the apprehension of hoodlums has been approved by the Executive Yuan. Hopefully, the process of putting these three laws into force will be completed as soon as possible. In addition, a law preventing persons involved in organized crime from standing for election should be added to the laws regarding the right of recall of elected public officials.
Second, executive measures. The following executive actions will be undertaken: Stepping up the pace of arresting persons involved in organized crime; vigorously searching out illegal firearms; continuing to promote the control of drugs; taking steps to control white-collar crime; putting more effort into the investigation of gambling and robbery; formulating a draft law for the prevention of juvenile crime; and winning the cooperation of the general public in preserving public order.
Work on eradicating organized crime has already begun in earnest. I have met with the chiefs of the Prosecutor’s Office, the police, the Investigation Bureau, and the military police to draw up an action plan for the eradication of organized crime, detailing the tasks that these bodies will undertake in cooperation with one another. In addition, the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecutor’s Office has set up a supervisory team and an executive team, allowing the prosecutors to more effectively direct the operations of the investigators, the police, and the military police in handling cases involving organized crime.
An old saying has it that “When the forces of good are weak, demons grow strong; when the forces of good are strong, demons disperse.” This suggests that as long as the Prosecutor's Office, the Investigation Bureau the police, and the military police continue to cooperate effectively, a significant improvement in public order should be possible within a very short time. It should be stressed, however, that the eradication of organized crime is a long-term, continuous project. The ultimate goals are to ensure that the general public can live in peace and to boost our country’s competitiveness in the international arena.
Regarding my second topic, the elimination of corruption, I believe that the people’s trust is the most important resource any government can possess. Corruption is the main threat to this resource. This is the consideration that prompted Premier Lien Chan, immediately after he took office in March 1993, to issue a directive to implement administrative reform and create honest, effective government. President Lee Teng-hui stressed in his inaugural speech on May 20th, following his election, that a more honest, capable government is one of his administration’s main aims. The legal and administrative reform being promoted by the Ministry of Justice also has the creation of this kind of government as its ultimate goal.
Corruption stems from numerous different causes—it is not merely a legal problem, but also a political and social one. If corruption is attacked only through the application of strict penalties, the underlying attitudes that lead to corruption will not be changed. The problem must also be tackled politically and socially. The government must act decisively to reform itself, and broad, in-depth public education is needed. It is worth pointing out that impartial, thorough administration of the law can raise a government’s credibility and strengthen its authority. It can also have a ripple effect in improving public morality and creating a healthier political culture.
From an international perspective, the healthiness or otherwise of the political culture not only affects a country’s image, it can also affect the country’s competitiveness. Corruption creates public dissatisfaction, warps the decisionmaking process, and constitutes an obstacle to the efficient allocation of resources. From the experiences of Singapore and Hong Kong in fighting corruption over many years, it can be seen that its elimination is not something that can be carried out rapidly. To be effective, it requires continuous, all-out effort on the part of the government, as well as a change in popular attitudes.
In the last few years, the public’s faith in the honesty of government officials seems to have grown somewhat, but people are still far from satisfied. The government must take more active steps to meet popular expectations and strengthen its work in preventing corruption.
The Ministry of Justice has consistently worked hard to combat corruption. One example which I am sure everyone is familiar with is the Chou Jen-shen video games scandal. Although those implicated in this case included individuals at various levels of government, including prosecutors and high-ranking police officers, we carried out our investigation with complete impartiality, giving special treatment to no one. Statistics show that of those convicted in this case, the number convicted of corruption was very small, both in absolute terms and as a percentage; nevertheless, the case has had wide ramifications, and further investigation is undoubtedly needed.
In the thirty-four months between the implementation of our Anti-Corruption Action Scheme in September 1993 and the end of July 1996, indictments in cases of corruption totaled 1,779 cases involving 4,149 individuals. Comparison with the 1,259 cases in the thirty-four months preceding the implementation of the scheme shows a 41.3 percent increase in the number of cases, while the number of individuals indicted grew by 88.76 percent over the earlier period’s total of 2,198. However, there is still considerable room for improvement, and our ultimate goal should be the complete elimination of both corruption and the circumstances that give rise to it.
I believe more work is needed in the following areas:
• Strengthening the organizational framework for eliminating corruption. The anti-corruption team should spend as little time as possible on unnecessary paper work, and avoid the danger that the project becomes a purely formal exercise.
• Speeding up the revision of relevant legal statutes. For example, cooperation with the Legislative Yuan to ensure the revision of the law on punishment in corruption cases concerning profiteering.
• Eliminating bottlenecks in dealing with corruption cases at the investigation stage, and developing closer cooperation between the Prosecutor's Office, the Investigation Bureau, and other relevant legal bodies.
• Ensuring the confidentiality of investigations, with respect for the human rights of those being investigated.
I look forward to hearing any suggestions that will help us eradicate organized crime, reform our“red-envelope culture," and create a healthier social climate. Thank you.