Wang Tso-jung, Minister of Examination

Fighting corruption isn't in fact all that difficult. First, you've got to be strict in prosecuting a few corruption cases. Second, you've got to sack a few unsuitable high level officials with bad reputations. By so doing, you'd shake things up and establish some credibility. You've got to start from the top down to get to the root of the problem. Otherwise, it would only be like trimming the branches, and anti-corruption measures wouldn't be successful.

Wang Chien-hsuan (a founder of the New Party)

Fighting corruption is one of the responsibilities of the ruling party. But such a campaign can't rely on the written word alone. No campaign will convince both the upstanding and the unscrupulous; everything depends on whether or not people are firm in the execution. But if Hongkong can establish the governor's Independent Commission Against Corruption, why can't we establish something similar?

Po Yang (author)

The anti-corruption campaign this time doesn't seem to be anything new. The fact of the matter is that previous efforts of this ilk were already seen to be ineffective. There's no need to try again. I think we should create a truly independent commission against corruption, and I agree with the Hongkong method of shifting the burden of proof. It would be a simple and effective way of achieving the goal of weeding out corruption.

This said, the Chinese are too nimble in adapting themselves to circumstances. Will a method that worked abroad work here, or will the forces of evil find a way to skirt the law? I am a little worried.

Huang Kuang-kuo (Professor of Psychology at National Taiwan University)

I believe that if the government is going to root out corruption, it has got to first prosecute a few big cases. If officials are involved, they should immediately be thrown out of office and punished, but this can't be reduced to a sideshow or a political boxing match. You can't fool people into believing that anti-corruption efforts have been successful if they haven't.

Shao Tsung-hai (National Assembly Delegate, Associate Professor of Three

Principles of the People at National Chengchih University)

In the current political climate, I am pessimistic about the effectiveness of any such campaign, but it all depends on how it's implemented. It can only be said that such a campaign is better than nothing at all. Even if it's just a little kid crying " wolf,"won't the wolf finally come one day? The fear was that if the government couldn't even come up with a campaign, it would really make people desperate.

Lu Ya-li (Professor of Political Science at National Taiwan University)

In fighting corruption, the key is how determined one is in the execution. This campaign isn't any big breakthrough, but there have already been a few new ideas. For example, in the past corruption carried very heavy penalties, and as a result the officials involved would never confess and the judges wouldn't easily give a guilty verdict. Now there's a call to make the punishment a little more reasonable, and this may be of help. But just having these campaigns are not enough. Public opinion and citizens groups have got to come together behind it. It will only work if it has got support behind it.

Of course, today this corruption is at the highest levels of government and the people's elected representatives are involved, which sets it apart from past where bribes were given to civil servants to get something done. This change requires stronger efforts to prevent wrongdoing, greater internal supervision within the bureaucracy, and making the movement of government funds more transparent. If anti-corruption work is done properly, the ruling party still has a future.

Lu Hsiu-yi (Democratic Progressive Party Legislator)

I believe that the current anti-corruption personnel in the government are useless. We definitely need to start all over again, establishing something like the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Only this will bring any effective enforcement. But laws can't work by themselves. To get to the root of the problem, we've got to completely overhaul the way government works and the culture of bribing and personal connections that is a part of it.

Tseng Chao-pin (assistant to Legislator Wang Shih-hsiung)

Because of the public's abhorrence of corruption and the lack of a place to go to report corruption, Legislator Wang Shih-hsiung established the "Anti-Corruption League." It was only afterwards that we discovered that the public really lacks understanding of legal principles, completely ignoring whether evidence is sufficient or not. For example, many people after having lost a law suit were certain that the judge had taken a bribe, but where was the evidence? The lack of evidence and the difficulty in looking for it have made me understand the difficulties borne by the Bureau of Investigation.