2016/06/22
Transparency International Organization Shares Anti-Corruption Experiences to Effectively Improve Military Integrity (June 22, 2016)
(Military News Agency reporter, Chou Sheng-Wei, Taipei, June 21st) In the Military Anti-Corruption Education Teacher Seminar today, the Ministry of National Defense invited Ms. Katherine and Mr. Newman from Transparency International to share their experiences in international corruption cases. The sharing session is aimed to strengthen the anti-corruption awareness of the military personnel, reduce or prevent corruption and illegal activities, and improve the clean image of the military.
Regarding the importance of anti-corruption in national defense, Ms. Katherine expressed that due to factors such as “danger levels”, “social dissent” and “waste of resources”, anti-corruption must be implemented to ensure good combat readiness, effective defense and high credibility, thus reducing the national and social instability.
When broached on the subject of anti-corruption in national defense, Ms. Katherine indicated that corruption is hazardous to national defense. Taking the example of the “Sinking of Motor Vessel Sewol” case in South Korea, due to the military accepting bribes from enterprises, the military vessels that are supposed to conduct rescue missions at the shipwreck site are inadequately equipped to complete the mission, thus leading to the deaths of many students.
Regarding the social dissent, Ms. Katherine raised the example of the procurement corruption case in India in 2013 in which many politicians and military officials were involved, leading to the people losing faith in the military as well as government credibility issues.
In terms of resource wasting, Ms. Katherine indicated that, last year, a F-16 fighter plane in Indonesia caught fire just before taking off, leading to the public questioning government intentions for buying a batch of 24 old fighter planes and the cost-effectiveness. Investigations reveal the presence of illegal activities in the procurement process which changed the procurement of 6 new fighter jets to 24 old fighter planes, causing a waste of budget.
Ms. Katherine stressed that, the presence of broker intervention and bribery in procurement processes will not only cause the aforementioned problems but also cause the leakage of secrets to these brokers, therefore corruption is a matter of national security that should be treated seriously.