Taipei City Integrity Commissioner Hsu Chin-huang was involved in a dangerous drunk driving incident on August 9th—the day after Father’s Day—just as the typhoon was about to leave Taiwan. While everyone was still preparing to restore their homes, at 2 AM in the early morning, he was drunk driving on Minzhu Road in Hsinchu City, crossing into the opposite lane and crashing directly into a truck and a sedan parked on the other side, damaging both vehicles.
After the accident, nearby residents heard the noise and came to check, proactively calling the police. The only silver lining was that, since the typhoon had just passed and it was very late, few pedestrians were on the road, and no one was injured in this dangerous drunk driving incident.
That same evening at 7 PM, Hsu went on Facebook to thank everyone for their concern and advice. He stated that he indeed did something wrong by driving after drinking. He acknowledged that, although no one was injured, it was certainly inappropriate behavior, and he apologized to the public, accepting criticism and scrutiny.
Following this dangerous drunk driving crash, Hsu resigned from his position on the Taipei City Integrity Commission. Whether this will affect his once-rumored possibility of running for the legislature remains a subject of significant public interest.
In this incident, after crashing into two roadside vehicles while driving drunk, police conducted a breathalyzer test on Hsu and discovered his blood alcohol concentration was an alarming 0.67 mg/L, nearly 5 times the basic legal limit of 0.15 mg/L. Hsu was immediately transferred by police to the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office on charges of public endangerment.
Police stated that public endangerment carries a sentence of up to two years, typically calculated based on the individual’s blood alcohol level. For first-time offenders, deferred prosecution is generally offered, usually with a fine of NT$80,000.
According to media reports, Hsu had already been involved in a highway accident back in May of the same year. At the time, he even posted on Facebook that he was glad he hadn’t been drunk driving, or he’d never hear the end of it. Only three months later, he was caught crashing while drunk driving.
📰 TN Commentary:
Mr. Hsu can rest assured—in Taiwan, the public is generally very NICE about celebrities with political connections who drink and drive. For example, Tsai Yuzhen, who previously refused to be tested after drunk driving, is still appearing as a pundit on political talk shows. However, your chances of running for the legislature are probably over. Perhaps appearing as a pundit on talk shows at SET TV, ERA News, or Next TV could be a decent alternative career path.
📝 Hsu Chin-huang Profile
- Age: 38
- Family: Unmarried
- Education: BA in Diplomacy, National Chengchi University
- Current Position: Columnist, Taipei City Integrity Commissioner
- Experience:
- Editor-in-Chief, North America Intellectual Property Report
- Special Assistant, 1111 Job Bank
- Founder, JCase Freelance & Outsource Bank
- Associate Manager of Marketing & Procurement, Sinya Digital
- Senior Manager, Realtek Semiconductor CEO’s Office