TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has denied the United States is concerned with the investigation into graft allegations surrounding former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), reports said Saturday (Sept. 14).

The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) founder has been detained as a defendant since Sept. 5 over accusations he accepted bribes from a developer to drastically increase the floor area ratio of the Core Pacific City project. Ko has denied the allegations, while several other individuals, including the developer, a city councillor, and former city officials were also detained.

A former Taiwan envoy to New Zealand, Dale Jieh (介文汲), said on a talk show that AIT would intervene if the investigation into Ko continued, per CNA. His comments were later echoed by Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑), the director of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation.

However, AIT said Saturday that it respected Taiwan’s democratic system and its support for the rule of law. A spokesperson emphasized that the U.S. did not involve itself in Taiwan judicial cases.

An unnamed foreign policy expert in Taiwan said no democratic nation would express concern about the Ko case and about Taiwan’s judicial affairs, according to the CNA report. Criticism looked like an attempt by China to sow distrust about the U.S. and about the fairness of Taiwan’s judicial system among the public, the source said.