TAIPEI, July 20, 2010 (AFP) - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday pledged to fight corruption by setting up a new watchdog in the wake of a high-profile bribery scandal implicating senior judges and a prosecutor.

"I have the utmost determination to build a clean government ... We will not allow a handful of corrupted officials to humiliate all civil servants and damage the government's image," Ma told a press conference.

"We will set up a commission against corruption under the justice ministry for the important task of eradicating and preventing corruption," he said.

The move came after Taiwan's top judicial chief Lai In-jaw stepped down on Sunday amid public outcry over the bribery scandal and another controversy involving alleged links between several senior police officers and gangsters.

Three High Court judges and a prosecutor were taken into custody last week for allegedly accepting bribes from a former lawmaker in exchange for a not guilty verdict in a land acquisition case.

The ex-lawmaker, who disappeared when prosecutors were about to raid his residence, has been put on the wanted list.

Taiwan has been hit by a string of corruption scandals in recent years, including a case implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and his family.