Number of Corruption Cases in Taiwan Grows as KMT Legislator Arrested

Politicians from across party lines in Taiwan are facing charges of corruption and bribery.

Transcript

00:00Agents raided the office of Kuomintang legislator Siraka Tsao before questioning him for hours

00:05afterwards. Prosecutors allege he accepted bribes from at least five green energy companies

00:10between 2020 and 2023. Now out on bail and barred from leaving the country, he faces

00:16increasing scrutiny, as lawmakers from across the spectrum demand the case be handled swiftly

00:20and fairly.

00:21If you want to investigate, investigate. If you want to handle the case, handle the case.

00:28But you should never take the blame for nothing. You should handle the case politically.

00:35But this is far from the only corruption scandal brewing, with politicians of all party affiliations

00:40in the crosshairs. It's not yet a week since ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker

00:44Lin Yijin was bailed amid charges of embezzlement. And the former vice premier is facing bribery

00:49and corruption charges, too. Meanwhile, Ko Wen-je, the chair and founder of the Taiwan

00:54People's Party, is also fighting back against criticism for using election subsidies to

00:58buy personal property. Even an official involved in an independent campaign is in trouble.

01:04Pingdong County Council Speaker Zhou Dianlun has just been sentenced to four years. Though

01:09a Kuomintang member, Zhou worked to help get independent candidate and electronics tycoon

01:13Terry Guo on the ballot in last year's presidential election. Prosecutors say he paid voters to

01:18sign the petition to make that happen. Zhou says he'll appeal, and his daughter says he's

01:23innocent. But prosecutors are standing firm.

01:26It's not just about paying the people of the League and the administration. It's about

01:35paying voters to get a copy of the League book.

01:40President Lai Qingde made stamping out corruption one of his campaign pledges. And while the

01:44ongoing investigations show that prosecutors aren't shy about going after graft and

01:48bribery, the number of cases shows the scale of the problem across Taiwan's political

01:53spectrum.

01:55Klein Wong and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.