Xu Jiaqing, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council, was involved in a controversy over abuse of power. She held a press conference on the 7th to tearfully announce her resignation and requested relevant administrative and judicial investigations.
Xu Jiaqing, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, was accused of allowing his underage son to pretend to be a "photographer" to accompany him on overseas trips, and his husband's private use of an official vehicle when stationed abroad. He has been embroiled in controversy over his privileges in recent days. He has now been approved to resign. In response, prosecutors from the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office's Black Gold Division directed the Independent Commission Against Corruption to review data on travel itineraries, expense write-offs, and use of official vehicles to clarify whether profiteering and corruption were involved.
The Beijing Prosecutor's Office yesterday compiled the reports, divided the cases, and handed them over to the prosecutors of the black gold team who are responsible for the case of Xu using his authority to allow his son to participate in the Dongsha Island experience camp for joint investigation. The prosecutor today directed the ICAC Northern Region Investigation Team to investigate and issued a document. The ICAC, through the Political Conduct Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Political Conduct Office of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council, obtained information from the two agencies on Xu's trip itinerary, write-offs, and use of official vehicles of the embassy abroad to find out whether there was any irregularity.
The whole case stems from the People's Party holding a press conference on the 5th, quoting people familiar with the situation abroad, saying that when Xu Jiaqing went on a business trip to France, Germany and other countries in 2022, he took his son, who was about 13 or 14 years old at the time, with him throughout the trip and "packaged him as a photographer", questioning his qualifications for hospitality and transportation from the overseas Chinese community.
The party group also played recordings of testimonies from overseas Chinese community members, stating that Xu went to New York and Washington at least 3 or 4 times in 2024. Her husband Tang Bowei was accused of driving an official vehicle abroad by himself, and requested the Overseas Chinese Affairs Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ political conduct unit to investigate. The party group again questioned on the 6th that when Xu attended an overseas Chinese community event in Vancouver in 2024, her husband and son were also present, and whether she regarded the official trip as a family trip.
Xu Jiaqing announced her resignation today and was approved by Executive President Zhuo Rongtai. She emphasized that she would never waste public funds or benefit her family. In order to maintain the reputation of her position and independent space for administrative and judicial investigations, she requested an investigation herself and will fully cooperate and accept the results. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Council has previously clarified that official itineraries and expenses are declared, verified and implemented in accordance with the law; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it has asked the resident office to find out the use of official vehicles, emphasizing that family care needs should be distinguished from the use of official resources, and official vehicles must still be used according to official needs and regulations.
As for the Dongsha Island case, Xu Jiaqing’s son participated in the 2025 Overseas Chinese Youth Dongsha Ecological Experience Camp, and the Kuomintang Party’s questioning activities were tailor-made for him. On August 13, he went to the Beijing Prosecutor’s Office to report suspected of profiteering and other crimes, and the Beijing Prosecutor’s Office investigated other cases. The Supervisory Yuan previously determined that Xu failed to recuse himself in accordance with the law and violated the law on recusal of conflicts of interest for public officials, and fined him 100,000 yuan. Xu said that his son met the registration qualifications, and he was invited to participate because he was worried about insufficient numbers. Neither he nor his son benefited from this.
