Hsu Chia-ching Spent $1.15M on 26-Day Overseas Trip, Cited Sensitivity for Non-Disclosure? TPP Releases Full Report: Watching Movies and Eating Desserts—Where’s the Secrecy?

Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Chairperson Hsu Chia-ching conducted a 26-day inspection tour across seven countries in Europe and America—namely the United States, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom—spending a total of 1.15 million New Taiwan Dollars (NTD). However, the publicly released version of her overseas report was criticized for being excessively brief. Hsu previously stated that certain parts of the itinerary involved sensitive information and could not be fully disclosed.

On the 30th, the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Legislative Caucus released a 22-page full version of the report obtained through an information request. According to the document, the previously undisclosed activities included attending a screening of the Taiwanese film 'Da Meng' overseas, tasting French desserts, and participating in an event hosted by the Chinese Benevolent Association of New York. The film screening attracted over 200 attendees, and the association event had around 70 participants—both were public events. The dessert-tasting activity was even reported by the media afterward, raising questions about the necessity of confidentiality.

TPP Caucus Convenor Chen Ching-lung pointed out that according to the 'Administrative Yuan and Affiliated Agencies Overseas Report Handling Guidelines,' classified reports may be exempt from online publication if approved by the agency head. However, since Hsu has already uploaded the report to a public information website, the party caucus questioned the validity of her confidentiality claim. He noted that the 22-page version obtained by the party had only redacted personal information, while the content of insights and recommendations was nearly identical to the public version. The deleted portions mainly consisted of detailed itinerary descriptions.

TPP Legislative Caucus Chief Kuo Hui-ju criticized that if even watching a movie, eating desserts, and attending large-scale overseas community events cannot be disclosed, the argument that these activities involve national security is difficult to accept. Hsu previously responded that it is impossible to disclose every itinerary and contact, as doing so would allow China to easily obtain information on overseas community affairs work. She emphasized that every activity was tied to policy missions and was not, as critics alleged, a taxpayer-funded vacation. The OCAC website also published some of her public activities, such as a community forum in Berlin and a visit to a Taiwan Mandarin Learning Center.

TPP Caucus Director Chen Chih-han responded, 'Something that wasn’t originally classified remains unclassified.' She urged Hsu to stop using 'confidentiality' or 'China factor' as excuses to avoid explanation and instead directly report the trip’s expenditures and concrete outcomes to the public. The two sides continue to disagree on which activities should be public and which genuinely involve overseas community security.