Taipei, March 9 (CNA) The public's perception of clean government in Taiwan has improved, with civil servants receiving a higher rating than politicians, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said Tuesday, citing a report by a Hong Kong consulting firm. The report on corruption perception levels in Asia-Pacific countries is set to be published Wednesday by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy.
According to a MOJ statement, Taiwan was ranked eighth in terms of political cleanliness among the 16 countries and regions surveyed this year, up one notch from 2009.
Taiwan trailed Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, the United States, Japan, Macau and South Korea but finished ahead of Malaysia, China, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.
The ranking is based on the results of a survey in which respondents were asked to rate the level of corruption of these countries on a 0-10 scale based on their subjective impression. The lower the score, the less corrupt the government or people being rated.
The report emphasized that it measured perceptions of corruption rather than the actual level of corruption in surveyed countries.
Government employees at the central and local levels in Taiwan received scores of 5.4 and 4.49, respectively. Meanwhile, local political leaders were given a score of 7.53, and national political leaders received a score of 8.07.
Taiwan's average score of 6.28 was better than China's 6.52.
The report revealed that the corruption scandal involving former President Chen Shui-bian and his family as well as vote buying in local elections were the main reasons why Taiwanese politicians had negative corruption perception ratings.
(By Lai Yu-chia and Y.F. Low)
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