Ex-Taiwan ambassador to St. Lucia impeached in sexual harassment case

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) The Control Yuan has impeached Taiwan's former ambassador to Saint Lucia, Peter Chen (陳家彥), after it concluded that he did sexually harass a fellow female diplomat back in 2016 as she alleged.

The government watchdog, which issued the impeachment Tuesday, referred the case to the Disciplinary Court, which handles cases of civil servant misconduct, to level punishment, it said.

Among the disciplinary measures Chen could face are being relieved of his duties, having his pension and/or salary cut, being given a demerit, or being demoted.

Chen, who served as ambassador to the Caribbean ally from mid-2020 to early 2025, was impeached based on the government watchdog's own investigation into a sexual harassment accusation by one of Chen's female subordinates when he was deputy head of MOFA's Department of Protocol.

According to the Control Yuan impeachment report, Chen, a supervisor of the victim in the Department of Protocol, asked the victim to brief him on a special project in a hotel room in May 2016.

While in the hotel room, Chen allegedly put his arms around the victim's waist and forced her down on the hotel room bed against her will.

Chen even tried to stop the woman from leaving the room even though she had specifically told him several times that she did not think the act was appropriate and asked him to stop doing so, according to the report.

The victim originally did not want to make the case public until she later found she could possibly cross paths with Chen again at MOFA in the future, given the fact that both are diplomats.

She officially filed a complaint over Chen's harassment to the ministry on Oct. 16, 2024.

MOFA completed its internal probe into the matter and found the victim's accusation legitimate on Nov. 13, 2024, before handing the case to the Control Yuan, according to the report.

The Control Yuan is the government branch responsible for investigating and censuring wrongdoing by public officials and agencies.

In his defense, Chen told MOFA and the Control Yuan that the victim's accusation was unfounded and that she leveled the charge only because she held a grudge against him because he had been harsh on her at work.

After speaking to several witnesses related to the case and looking into the available evidence, including an apology Chen sent to the victim's phone following the incident, the Control Yuan deemed Chen's behavior unbecoming of a diplomat.

It said his actions had seriously damaged the imagine of a diplomat and the country as a whole, and therefore impeached him, it said.

Asked to comment, MOFA told CNA that it fully respected the Control Yuan's decision, which was made after MOFA concluded its probe of the case.

Chen is currently an ambassador on home assignment at MOFA's Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs.