Ms. Lai Su-ru, a council woman of Taipei City, also a member of KMT central standing commitee , and chief secretary of Chairman Ma's office,  was prosecuted and detained due to alleged bribery charges.  Ms. Lai was not the only one as Ma's political crony who possessing "clean" image but was eventually proved being corruptive.  People might accuse Ma of nepotism or lacking statecraft and discernment in his choice of helpers, but I think the root cause for the corruptions in Taiwan should attribute to its political environment: the prevailing culture of electioneering, which already made KMT become just a huge election machine, totally void of idealism any longer. 

It is hard to imagine that decades ago a council woman like Ms. Lai, and many a representive "representing public opinon", would be selected into KMT central standing commitee.  So in the eyes of KMT nowadays, securing ruling power by virtue of election is their only goal, make or mar.   However, election campaigns cost a bundle, and how will the winners get themselves repaid, from their salaries?  Don't be silly, and you know the answer.  There is another kind of corruption even worse than private grafts: pork barrels that make boondoggles and unrestrained cheques to curry favor to voters that will engender future debts to already aggravating public finance. 

So the politics of today's Taiwan is wining the election now and planning the winning strategies for the next one, almost nothing else.  The vicious circle will definitely continue.  What can we do?  Nothing but shrug and give a rueful smile.  You want a superficial and ineffective democracy, and you've got it.  You may say Mainland China also has a malady of corruption under an autocratic system.  But she has a better chance for a galaxy of competent  political elites to concentrate on ruling the country in their tenure of ten years with an effective way without worrying about domestic challenges(internal struggles, may be.)  All she has to do is enlarge the sphere of participation in the future, enable herself to cheery-pick more capable candidates out of wider range.  Unlike the incorrigibly systematic corruption of Taiwan , Mainland China has opporunities in curbing her own if she has determination to do it.