The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was negligent in its handling of sexual harassment allegations against former representative to the Philippines Michael Hsu (徐佩勇) during his time in Manila, the Control Yuan said on Monday.
Control Yuan member Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said that Hsu was recalled and officially removed from his post after then-foreign minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) learned about the accusation against him in April last year.
However, aside from that action, the ministry dragged its feet in investigating the matter, despite prodding from the Control Yuan, and did not take any corrective or compensatory measures in accordance with regulations, Chi said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The Control Yuan has ordered the ministry to take disciplinary action against personnel at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines who committed wrongful acts or were negligent, she said.
As there have been multiple reports of alleged sexual harassment at Taiwan’s overseas representative offices, the Control Yuan said that the ministry must improve sexual harassment education and training at its overseas missions.
The Control Yuan on May 14 impeached Hsu and transferred his case to the Disciplinary Court.
The allegations against Hsu, who became representative to the Philippines in July 2018, first came to light publicly in June last year through a post published online by an anonymous whistle-blower.
Hsu repeatedly made sexually explicit remarks and gestures toward his secretary, exploiting the power he had as head of the de facto embassy in Manila, creating a hostile work environment, the whistle-blower wrote in a blog post.
Based on the Control Yuan investigation, the harassment dates to at least Dec. 7, 2022, when Hsu allegedly touched his Philippine secretary inappropriately and asked her to show him her breasts two days later, Chi said.
After she complained, Hsu apologized to her on Dec. 15 and 22, but did not stop his inappropriate behavior, Chi said, adding that he repeatedly touched her and made other unwanted sexual advances toward her in February and March last year.
On March 22, last year Hsu made up an excuse to touch her, leaving her scared and angry, Chi said of the secretary.
The employee was worried that the office could not handle the case fairly, so she gave evidence to national security personnel stationed in Manila and asked them to report it to the ministry on their return to Taiwan, Chi said.
That was when Hsu was recalled, Chi said.
After receiving reports that staff at the representative office in Manila were also aware of the sexual harassment case, the Control Yuan wrote a formal inquiry to the ministry, demanding that it investigate and deal with the situation, she said.
However, while the ministry directed the representative office to explain what happened, the office kept silent about key issues, reporting only that there was a misunderstanding that occurred during conversations between Hsu and the secretary, making her unhappy, Chi said.
At the same time, the ministry on May 11 last year told the Control Yuan that it was unable to launch an investigation because nobody filed a complaint, she said.
Chi did not accept that excuse at the time, because the ministry had to have known of the incident by then or it would not have dismissed Hsu.
It was not until June 9 last year when the whistle-blower broke the news on social media, revealing the name and photographs of the secretary, and media reported on the matter that the ministry began to deal with it further, Chi said.
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