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.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS