The Agency Against Corruption (AAC) cooperated with The National Democratic Institute (NDI), Transparency International Taiwan (TICT), The Open Culture Foundation (OCF), and Taiwan Association for Schools of Public Administration and Affairs (TASPAA) for Indo-Pacific Youth Exchange on Anti-Corruption. During the international review of Taiwan’s second report under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), AAC invited 13 young cadres of NGOs from 4 countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, together with 12 undergraduate and graduate students in our country as observers to participate in the review meeting. AAC held a workshop for observers to exchange of opinions after the review meeting. Through the on-site visits, they gained a better understanding of how the government procurement integrity platform operates in Danjiang Bridge Project of Directorate General of Highways, MOTC, and what the measures related to transparency in the customs administration in Keelung Customs Taipei Port of Customs Administration, MOF. This series of activities culminated in The Indo-Pacific Youth Dialogue on Anti-Corruption and Transparency Initiatives on September 2. All participants were deeply impressed by Taiwan’s progress in building capacity in integrity.

This event not only responded to the Concluding Observations on the ROC’s Initial Report under the UNCAC in 2018, which revealed that "Taiwanese civil society organizations and academia have played an important role in combating corruption and promoting integrity, which is enough to serve as a model for the Asia-Pacific region.", but also to the various commitments on anti-corruption and transparency made by our country at The Summit for Democracy hosted by the United States in December 2021.

As observers, Indo-Pacific and Taiwan youths jointly participated in the Review Meeting of the Second National Report under the UNCAC held in the Conference Room of the Howard Civil Service International House on August 30. All observers also actively communicated in the discussion workshop after the review meeting, and enthusiastically shared their observations and feedback on that day. In addition, they visited achievements of Integrity Platform for the Danjiang Bridge Project and the administrative transparency measures in Keelung Customs (Taipei Port Office) on September 1st.

In order to share precious experiences and discuss about integrity issues, Indo-Pacific Youth Dialogue on Anti-Corruption and Transparency Initiatives was held in Metro Link International Hall of Taipei Metro on September 2nd. “Freedom, democracy, integrity and transparency are universal values worldwide. In collaboration with NDI, AAC wants to make a fresh start with international integrity cooperation,” said AAC Director-General Rong-Song Zhuang as he served as a keynote speaker. TICT Executive Director Yi-Jung Wu said, “Only the integrity and efficient government serves as a blessing for people. I hope that our youths exchange their opinions and bring the valuable experiences back to where they grew up. Then the experiences will sprout and be in bloom of value.” NDI Taiwan Resident Director Alfred Wu pointed out, “Recently, Taiwan have gained outstanding achievements in Open Government. I hope that this activity could earn youths’ recognition of integrity and transparency so that they’ll be encouraged to devote in the integrity career.” AIT Legal Liaison Section Chief Ty Cook said, “Corruption has a serious negative impact on private and public sectors. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will make all-out efforts to collaborate with everyone on combat corruption and protect integrity.”

Breaking Down Barriers to Protect the Values of Integrity and Transparency

In the first half of Indo-Pacific Youth Dialogue, 4 NDI Indo-Pacific youths, Almas (from Indonesia), Angelyn (from the Philippines), Terans (from Sri Lanka) and Desmond (from Papua New Guinea), gave the lectures on the observation of Anti-Corruption and Transparency Efforts in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. NDI Taiwan Resident Director Wu served as a moderator and AAC Deputy Director-General Feng-Liang Shen, TICT Vice Executive Director Yu-Jung Lee and OCF Deputy CEO Lulu Keng served as panelists.

In the second half of Indo-Pacific Youth Dialogue, 3 Taiwan youth representatives, Charlotte Hsieh (from National Taipei University), Melina Nuñez Sanabria (from Shih Hsin University) and Cheng-Hsun Huang (from National Chengchi University), gave the lectures on the observation of Taiwan’s Anti-Corruption Efforts and National Adherence to the UNCAC. TICT Vice Executive Director Hsin-Chung Liao served as a moderator and AAC Deputy Director-General Feng-Liang Shen, TASPAA Secretary General Hsin-Fang Tsai, NDI Program Officer Penghsuan Lee and OCF Deputy CEO Lulu Keng served as panelists.

To make friends with integrity, it was the first time AAC and NDI cooperated in the series of activities of Indo-Pacific Youth Exchange on Anti-Corruption. This series of activities combined anti-corruption energies from the government, domestic and foreign Non-Governmental Organizations, and academia, showing Taiwan’s efforts on protecting the universal values of integrity to the world. To sum up, the series of activities struck a responsive chord and we made a wishful promise that we will collaborate together once again in 2023 to write down the new chapter of international integrity exchanges.