Academics have called for a comprehensive ban on schools promoting or advertising student trips linked to pro-China groups, following reports of sexual harassment during such visits organized by China’s “united front” work agencies.
“These trips, organized by the Association of Chinese Elites [ACE], are special programs funded by the Chinese Communist Party’s [CCP] ‘united front’ agencies. As such, they could be quite dangerous,” Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Monday. “If incidents of sexual harassment or assault occur, victims are often unable to report them to local authorities, as the CCP suppresses negative news coverage.”
Chen warned that if the alleged perpetrator has strong ties with the CCP, victims might face retaliation — including possible imprisonment — and the Taiwanese government would be unable to intervene effectively to bring them home.
Photo: Reuters
He urged the government to prohibit schools and educators from assisting in the promotion or advertising of such trips, which are typically framed as tourism or “educational exchanges,” but are largely funded and orchestrated by the CCP for propaganda purposes.
Calls for a blanket ban and stronger oversight intensified after a female university student said the director of the ACE — who personally led a trip to China in January — sexually harassed her.
The Ministry of Education on Monday said that the Youth Development Administration is investigating the ACE and its ties to Chinese organizations. If the probe finds contraventions of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the ministry said it would impose fines.
The itinerary provided by the complainant showed that the group traveled to Beijing, Hunan and Guangzhou, met with senior officials from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, and visited tourist sites such as the Forbidden City as well as university campuses as part of the 10-day program.
The complainant said that during the program, ACE director Chen Chang-feng (陳長風) sexually harassed her when everyone was at a birthday celebration organized for a group member, allegedly smearing cream from the birthday cake on her face and pressing her onto a bed, prompting her to scream.
She also said that later during the tour, while posing for a group photograph, Chen placed his hand around her waist, which she pushed away.
Chen denied pushing the student onto the bed, but admitted to smearing butter on her face, saying the group was “just horsing around” during the party and that the student had exaggerated the incident.
However, former participants told reporters they had heard of Chen’s inappropriate behavior, saying he was known for favoring more attractive female students and keeping them close throughout the trip. One participant said it was “as if he were selecting concubines,” Formosa Television reported.
The same report said that the program was laden with pro-China political messaging and served as a tool for indoctrinating Taiwanese students. In the January session this year, participants paid only NT$21,900, while the majority of costs — including airfare, hotel accommodations, meals, tours, travel insurance, local transportation, visits to historic sites, universities and tourist attractions — were subsidized by the Beijing government.
Critics said the unusually low cost, along with tours of major Chinese landmarks and the opportunity to meet senior Beijing officials, has enabled the ACE to attract large numbers of Taiwanese students over the past two decades.
They added that most of the program’s expenses were covered by the Chinese government.
“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
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)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,