TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Taiwan envoy to the Philippines Michael Hsu (徐佩勇) was recalled home to face an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) admitted Friday (June 9).

Taiwan has been in the grip of a string of harassment allegations involving workers for several political parties, legislators and legislative election candidates, academics, and government officials.

According to a post on an online forum, Hsu harassed his secretary, a Philippines national who joined the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila last year. He hugged her, kissed her, undressed her, and touched her inappropriately, but her protests did not receive any reaction, per UDN.

The online post said the secretary wrote about her experience on June 3. “Nothing comes close to describing this memoir more than traumatic,” she said.

MOFA said it received information about the incidents in April. As it deemed the allegations to be serious, it decided to relieve Hsu of his duties and to recall him to Taipei.

The investigation into Hsu’s behavior is still proceeding, MOFA said. The statement did not mention when a full report would be completed, or whether it would be made public.

An attorney for Hsu denied most of the allegations later Saturday, CNA reported. While the diplomat had apologized for inappropriate comments he made, and the secretary had accepted his apology, he refuted the accusations about hugging, kissing and touching, the attorney said, leaving open the possibility of legal action.

Hsu left the Philippines April 30 to be succeeded by Wallace Chow (周民淦) on Saturday (June 10). At the time of the announcement, MOFA did not mention harassment accusations as the cause for Hsu’s departure.

On March 1, MOFA introduced new policies to deal with sexual harassment inside the diplomatic service. The measures include multiple channels for reporting allegations, which could lead to the formation of a special investigation taskforce, UDN reported.