Political Risk:
Low
Score:
79/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
83/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Taiwan has a unique constitutional architecture which divides congressional/ parliamentary powers of legislative scrutiny for defence policy into two different branches, Legislative Yuan (LY)…
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LY is the main institution responsible for exercising parliamentary powers of national security and national defence related to the MND and the National Security…
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Following the principle of civilian control, the Ministry of National Defence shows a high level of respect for LY’s powers of budgeting and lawmaking.…
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Q2
67/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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The oversight functions are split between LY and CY committees. LY’s Foreign and National Defence Committee is equipped with the powers of budget review…
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Each legislator in LY’s Foreign and National Defence Committee is staffed with between 8 and 14 legislative assistants who help with general administration, legislation,…
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In addition to the MND’s annual budget proposals, the National Defence Act requires the MND to publish three major documents annually for the LY…
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During the legislative session, legislators of the Foreign and National Defence Committee gather on a regular basis to exercise their legislative powers to provide…
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Under the condition that LY is not equipped with the powers of parliamentary hearing (聽證調查權) and probe and investigation (調閱權), long-term oversight tends to…
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The MND is expected to incorporate legislative recommendations into its executive practices [1]. According to the Article 52 of the “Budget Act”, each and…
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Q3
63/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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The National Defence Act requires the MND to publish three major documents annually together with the MND’s annual budget proposals to the LY for…
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Key issues concerning national defence and military security are illustrated and orchestrated by the MND in these official reports, ranging from strategic security environment…
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Meetings and panel discussions of experts are part of the processes of compiling these official documents. However, probably due to the specilities of defence…
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The National Defence Act also requires the MND to publish the National Defence Report (NDR) bianually and submit a Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) to…
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Q4
92/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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The MND considers engagement with public organisations to be an essential mechanism through which to increase public support for Taiwan’s Armed Forces, especially to…
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CSOs’ participation in defence and security affairs is regarded as a mechanism for all-out defence in acccordance with the National Defence Act [1]. All-out…
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With the policy of Taiwan’s All-Out Defense, the MND has strategised a long-term scheme to work with the public and civil society organisations, e.g.…
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Q5
NA/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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This indicator has been marked ‘Not Applicable as, currently, Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations (UN) or its suborganisations [1]. Based…
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This indicator has been marked ‘Not Applicable as, currently, Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations. Taiwan published the “ROC’s Initial Report…
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Q6
88/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Thinktanks serve as the crucial platform for regular public debate on issues of defence in Taiwan via public forums, conferences, symposiums, media coverages, journals,…
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Public debates and discussions surrounding defence policy in Taiwan are mainly fuelled by versatile partisan politics between the ruling party and the opposing parties.…
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Q7
88/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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The National Integrity Building Action Plan established by the Executive Yuan seeks to advise institutions and agencies of Taiwan’s Government on issues of integrity…
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The MND’s “Organisation and Guidelines for the Board for Integrity and Anti-corruption of the Ministry of National Defence” serves as the major action plan…
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Q8
92/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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Under the architecture of the Board for Integrity and Anti-corruption, the MND has several institutions working on government ethics, integrity, and anti-corruption from the…
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The Ethics Office is not in the chain of command of the defence and security institution. It is a civil servant unit. Under the…
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The Ethics Office regularly assesses the corruption risks of the institution and deals with risks independently. From January 2015 to December 2020, the Ethics…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Public trust of theMND, its subordinate institutions, or other security establishments is easily impacted…
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Q10
92/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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Generic risk factors for corruption are employed for corruption risk assessment. GI serves as an important resource for the MND to scheme the “Organisation…
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For the MND and Taiwan’s armed forces, internal audit and self-evaluation of risk assessments are held regularly every three months, and external audit and…
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Regular assessments of areas of the greatest corruption risk for the MND and Taiwan’s Armed Forces are carried out by MND’s Ethics Office by…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
83/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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In principle, Taiwan’s weapon systems acquisition programmes and resource allocations follow the logic of the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS}. There are 3…
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The public has access to information about the acquisition process though the documents of the Concept & Plan of Ten-year Military Build Concept (10年建軍構想)…
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Government acquisition processes are regulated by the Budget Act, Audit Act, Government Procurement Act, and Regulations for Coverage and Handling of Special Military Procurement…
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Q12
88/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The Executive Yuan issues guidances to ministries on details and comprehensiveness for annual budget compilation [1]; for example, the Ministry of National Defence (MND)…
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One of the most powerful tools for the legislature is the “budget freeze” which prohibits executive branches from executing governmnent budgets. The MND also…
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Q13
63/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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LY’s Foreign and National Defence Committee is responsible for exercising parliamentary powers of national security and national defence related to powers of the MND…
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LY’s Foreign and National Defence Committee is the primary institution responsible for exercising parliamentary powers of national security and national defence related to the…
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Q14
100/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The Budget Act requires executive branches to make their budgets accessible to the public. Taking the 2020 government budget as an example, the 2020…
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The annual defence budgets submitted to the LY for budget reviews and approvals are made available in the public domain within a month for…
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Under the “Administrative Procedure Act” and “Directions for the MND and Subsidiary Dealing with Pleading cases”, individuals can apply to the government for relevant…
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Q15
100/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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Incomes are required to be disclosed in the annual defence budgets compiled by the Ministry of National Defence (MND) [1, 2]. Income sections can…
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The income sections of the annual defence budgets and approvals are made public on the internet; however, the secrecy defence budgets and approvals are…
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These income sections of the annual defence budgets are approvals are accessible on the internet and are subject to considerable and consistent scrutiny by…
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Q16
94/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Comptroller Office under the direct supervision of the Minister of National Defence is the major internal audit authority for Taiwan’s armed forces which…
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Oversight occurs for sensitive or critical issues under the direct command of the Minister of National Defence by the Comptroller Office [1]. As enabling…
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External scrutiny is in place with Executive Yuan’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics and Control Yuan’s National Audit Office. Internal audit reports…
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The MND regularly addresses audit findings in its practices through its chain-of-command by advisory or directives through subordinate units of budgetary, accounting and statistics,…
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Q17
94/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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According to laws and regulations, the external audit units of Executive Yuan’s Directorate-General of budget, Accounting, and Statistics; Legislative Yuan’s (LY) Budget Centre; and…
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Budgets of both Control Yuan’s National Audit Office and Legislative Yuan’s Budget Centre are categorised as the parliamentary or congressional budgets which are independent…
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The Annual Audit Reports of the government are compiled and published openly by CY’s National Audit Office on an annual basis [1, 2]. Under…
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Audit reports compiled by CY’s National Audit Office and the Report of Budgetary, Accounting, and Statistics issued by Executive Yuan’s Directorate General of Budget,…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
100/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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The “National Defence Act”, “Organization Act of the Ministry of National Defence”, and “Organization Law of the General Staff Headquarters of the Ministry of…
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Defence institutions involved in businesses relating to Taiwan’s natural resource exploitation will be regarded as violating the three laws that are the National Defence…
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Military personnel or civilian officials involved in businesses relating to Taiwan’s natural resource exploitation would be in violation of three laws: “National Defence Act”,…
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This indicator has been marked ‘Not Applicable’ as there is no evidence that Taiwan’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated…
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This indicator has been marked ‘Not Applicable’ as there is no evidence that Taiwan’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated…
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Organised Crime
Q19
88/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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The likelihood of Taiwan’s military being involved with sectors in which organised crime operates is very low since there are strong and strict mechanisms…
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The MND is aware of the possibility of organised crime in Taiwan’s armed forces and has established a strict mechanism to prevent and monitor…
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Q20
75/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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For legal issues, the Military Police Command is under the jurisdiction authority of civilian prosecutors from the Local Procuratorate to investigate corruption and organised…
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To achieve the goal of independence of investigation from military tribalism, civilian prosecutors from the Local Procuratorate, which is under the authority of the…
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For corruption and organised crime within Taiwan’s military, civilian prosecutors from the Local Procuratorate take the lead in coordinating agencies from both the MND…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
88/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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Taiwan’s intelligence services are comprised of the National Security Bureau, Military Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of National Defence, Communication Development Office of the…
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All intelligence agencies are subject to LY’s regular reviews and revision every six months, and to CY’s inspections on a project-by-project basis [1, 2].…
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Q22
50/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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The Director General of the National Security Bureau is either required to be a three-star general or admiral or a political appointee. Candidates for…
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The are general selection criteria for appointing military officers. However, the specific selection criteria for promoting and appointing intelligence officers is subject to preferences…
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The vetting process is initiated according to two articles stipulated in the “National Defence Act”. Article 32 states that any personnel involved in national…
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Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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This indicator has been marked ‘Not Applicable’ as Taiwan is not currently a member state of the UN. Taiwan is therefore not entitled to…
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This indicator has been marked ‘Not Applicable’ as Taiwan is not currently a member state of the UN and therefore cannot sign up to…
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According to the “Regulations of Products selling by National Defence Technology Institutions”, Taiwan’s arms exports and trade do not require legislative review or approval…
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Lobbying in Defence
In Taiwan, the Lobbying Act is designed to regulate lobbying activity in the public sectors, including the MND and the military [1, 2]. The…
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The MND has devised a scheme to implement the Lobbying Act by assigning specific officials to be in charge of lobbying projects and by…
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The lobbyist registration system in Taiwan is complex and awkward, which deters potential lobbyists or lobbying groups from adapting “formal” and official mechanisms of…
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Oversight of Taiwan’s current Lobbying Act is currently under the authority of the Ministry of Interior, but is ineffective and with limited resources [1,…
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