A Fu Jen Catholic University dean has been accused of trying to cover up a sexual assault that took place on campus last year and making offensive comments to the alleged victim during an inquiry, a university student surnamed Chu (朱) said on Sunday.
Chu made the allegation against College of Social Sciences dean Hsia Lin-ching (夏林清), a professor of psychology and a well-known feminist, in an 8,000-character Facebook post.
However, Hsia on Wednesday replied on Facebook that Chu’s narrative and quotes attributed to her “differed substantially from [her] recollections of the incident,” and denied that a faculty group was set up to paper over the incident.
“University gender equality committees have been working for many years and teachers on the front lines could easily think that the matters should be handed to the gender equality commission and the legal system, and abdicate their responsibility as educators to help students grow and learn with them,” she wrote.
Chu said that his girlfriend — a psychology student surnamed Wu (巫) — was raped by another student in the department, surnamed Wang (王), following an on-campus event where alcohol was served.
Chu said that he had become concerned about Wu’s safety after his telephone calls to her went unanswered, and that going to the party, he found Wang assaulting Wu and called the police.
Chu said that Wang was indicted in January for rape in January following DNA tests.
Chu said that right after the incident, Hsia repeatedly pressured Wu not to file a police report and not to make a formal complaint to Fu Jen’s gender equality committee.
He quoted the dean as saying: “I want to know what you have experienced as a woman; do not play the victim,” and: “This incident might be the straw that breaks this department’s back.”
Hsia later tried to push the faculty working group investigating the incident to conclude that the alleged crime was a case of intoxicated consensual sex, and stalked students who posted Facebook comments supporting Wu, sending them e-mails and ordering their teachers to talk to them, Chu said.
Wu eventually decided to file a complaint with the gender equality committee, which ordered Wang expelled.
The department has refused to comment on the incident, saying it wanted to avoid interfering with an ongoing legal case and citing concerns for the victim’s privacy.
A student and faculty forum is to be convened on Tuesday to discuss the handling of incident.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)