The Disciplinary Court yesterday found former representative to the Philippines Michael Hsu (徐佩勇) guilty of sexually harassing an employee during his stint in Manila.
Hsu, who headed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines from June 2018 to April 2023, was convicted of workplace sexual harassment.
The court said that Hsu cannot be employed in an official capacity for three years and imposed a fine of NT$500,000 (US$15,249).
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
Hsu retired in January last year.
The ruling followed Hsu’s impeachment by the Control Yuan on May 14 last year, with the government watchdog subsequently referring the case to the Disciplinary Court, which handles cases of civil servant misconduct.
According to the Control Yuan report at that time, Hsu made sexually explicit remarks to a Filipino employee working as his secretary and forcibly touched her multiple times from December 2022 to March 2023.
Hsu’s actions left the employee frightened, distressed and upset, and she developed insomnia as a result, the report said.
His improper behavior not only undermined the employee’s dignity, but also “severely damaged the reputation and image of the country and its diplomatic personnel,” it said.
The employee did not initially report Hsu out of fear of losing her job, but later handed over evidence of Hsu’s inappropriate actions, including recordings of conversations between the two, to a Taiwanese national security official posted in Manila, the report said.
The Control Yuan also censured the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for “failing to take immediate and effective corrective measures” until sexual harassment allegations against Hsu began to circulate on a Taiwanese online forum and were widely reported by the media.
In a news release issued in June 2023, the ministry said it recalled Hsu in April after learning of his misconduct and placed him under investigation.
In October that year, the ministry said that its investigation confirmed Hsu’s impropriety and forwarded the case to the Control Yuan.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS