The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislative caucus recently held a press conference titled “Want to Travel the World? Mommy Will Take You,” completely tearing away Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Minister Hsu Chia-ching’s facade of “keeping public and private affairs strictly separate.” A series of leaked audio recordings and evidence provided by overseas diplomats and Taiwanese expatriates revealed how Hsu treated state resources and public coffers as a “private travel agency” to fulfill her family’s globetrotting ambitions. Such wanton behavior, completely disregarding the nation’s institutional governance, is not only astounding but also crosses serious legal boundaries.
Overseas Representative Office Reduced to a “Private Family Motorcade”
According to whistleblowing audio recordings played during the press conference, Hsu Chia-ching privately allowed her spouse, Thomas Damico, to drive an official vehicle of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) across state lines from Washington, D.C. to New York to pick up their son, orchestrating a private “family reunion.”
Official vehicles are public resources intended strictly for advancing diplomacy and overseas compatriot affairs; how could a high-ranking official’s spouse be permitted to commandeer them like a private fleet? Using diplomatic mission resources as a complimentary long-distance taxi is a blatant misuse of public property and an insult to all taxpayers.
Fabricating a “Minor Official Photographer”: Treating State Protocol as Child’s Play
Even more appalling, Legislator Hung Yu-hsiang pointed out that as early as 2022, when Hsu was serving as Deputy Minister of the OCAC, she began taking her underage son on trips across various countries. To conceal this from scrutiny, she disguised her young son as an official delegation “photographer,” allowing him to accompany official missions across multiple European countries and comfortably receive lavish hospitality from local representative offices.
Hung cut straight to the core of this absurdity and illegality: the official civil service structure of the OCAC has never had any post designated as “official photographer”! To allow her son to enjoy public perks in broad daylight, Hsu did not hesitate to invent arbitrary titles, unlawfully bringing an underage family member onto official state delegations. This action is suspected of violating Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China (Usurpation of Public Authority), punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, detention, or a fine. As a high-ranking government minister, failing to set an example while knowingly breaking the law and undermining the dignity of the civil service system is utterly disgraceful.
Moral Decay and Institutional Breakdown: Inexcusable Negligence
The satirical slogan “Want to travel the world? Mommy will take you” now rings out as a tragic reflection of Taiwanese political realities. Hsu Chia-ching’s conduct is far beyond a mere ethical lapse; it is a major scandal involving illicit personal enrichment and abuse of power. Turning official business trips into family vacations and repurposing foreign diplomatic resources into private tour services and chauffeured cars is a grave insult to global overseas compatriot affairs and a stain on national governance.
Public revenues and diplomatic mission resources are the hard-earned money of the people, not a “family vacation fund” for privileged elites. In the face of such grave accusations, government ethics and prosecutorial authorities must immediately initiate an impartial investigation. If senior officials can commit such self-serving abuses with impunity, the rule of law and official integrity will crumble into ruin.
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