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15 June 2023 (Thursday)
Taiwan's Mrs. Robinson
Cradle Robbing by Cougar at a Military High School Goes Sideways
By Ross Feingold with Wendell Minnick
Please follow Feingold on Twitter at @RossFeingold
TAIPEI - Chung Cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School (CCAFPS/中正國防幹部預備學校官網) is the only military high school in Taiwan and the precursor for eventual flag officer status.
Based in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, young men and women graduate and then attend one of four institutions: Military Academy [Army], Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, and the National Defense University.
ABOVE: The Graduate (1967).
It would appear that an 18-year old in his senior year might not be the next Patton after his Custer-like fall from grace.
Screwing your girlfriend’s mother, 18 vs. 40, can be laughed off in the U.S. with jokes like “lucky guy” or “cradle robber” depending on your sense of humor.
But in Taiwan the law is far more bizarre and brutal…
On May 31 the Kaohsiung High Court (an intermediate appellate court in Taiwan’s three-tier court system) upheld a trial court judgment that a male student at Taiwan’s military preparatory school, the Chung Cheng Armed Forces Preparatory Academy (CCAFPS) had an affair with his teenage girlfriend’s mother, and that the young man, his parents and his paramour owe compensation to the girlfriend’s father.
The court judgment is available in Mandarin, and was reported in major Taiwan media outlets including The China Times, The Liberty Times, Storm and United Daily News.
According to the court judgment, in 2020 when the young lothario (let’s call him Benjamin Braddock in honor of Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate) was 18 years and yet to graduate from CCAFPS, he began to date a young lady of similar age from a family surnamed Su.
Benjamin Braddock was welcomed by the Su family, and frequently attended family gatherings.
This is where things thicken.
Mr. Su alleged in court that in the final months of 2020 he noticed unusual interactions between his wife and Benjamin Braddock. Upon confronting his wife, she confessed to an inappropriate relationship, exchanges of graphic messages, and visits to love motels.
In his defense, Benjamin Braddock claimed CCAFPS had strict limits on leaving campus, that he rarely saw Madame Su, they did not exchange graphic messages, and they did not have a sexual relationship.
He further alleged that it was Madame Su who took the initiative to text him, he was merely following along, and that some of this might have occurred after Mr. and Mrs. Su divorced.
At trial, evidence introduced from Madame Su’s mobile phone included videos of Benjamin Braddock and Madame Su having sex as well as lascivious text messages.
In one exchange, Madame Su wrote “Hubby, I miss you, I keep thinking about going to the motel with you, I can’t wait to be rubbed by you, gentle but dominating, it feels so good, the way you rub me from behind, the feeling is so great afterwards” 「老公我好想你,剛剛一直想著進去摩鐵的畫面,被老公迫不急待的揉揉,溫柔的霸道,好舒服,被背後突襲的揉揉,好回味」. Benjamin Braddock replied “My **** only wants to be inside Wifey’s **** and mouth, I want it now”「我的弟弟只會朝著老婆的XX進去,還有嘴巴,現在又想要了啦」.
The judgment includes additional examples, but, this lawyer says, case closed!
The appellate court awarded compensation of Four Hundred Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (approximately USD $13,000) to Mr. Su for damage to his spousal rights, and found Benjamin Braddock and Madame Su jointly-and-severally liable.
As Benjamin Braddock had yet to reach Taiwan’s statutory age of majority when the affair occurred, the court ruled his parents are also jointly-and-severally liable.
No fair you say for Mr. and Mrs. Braddock to be liable if their son cannot pay the debt?
It’s true that in many jurisdictions, the general rule is that parents are not responsible for the act of a minor child.
In the United States exceptions exist where states have enacted statutes to make parents liable such as in California for bodily injury or property damage caused by a child’s willful misconduct, and New York for property damaged by a child’s willful or malicious intent.
However, in Taiwan, the Republic of China Civil Code assigns broad liability to the guardian of a minor: Article 187.
The court took the view that Mr. and Mrs. Braddock were negligent in their failure to properly educate their son about proper interaction between the sexes (在兩性教育上實疏於監督). Unfortunately for Mr. and Mrs. Braddock, Taiwan’s age of majority was lowered to eighteen only with effect from 1 January 2023.
CCAFPS’ educational mission is to 1) develop democratic concept and integrity; 2) inspire patriotism and noble personality; 3) realize academic requirements; 4) strengthen mental and physical health; and 5) nurture future military leaders being characteristic of wisdom, virtues and fitness.
Unfortunately, CCAFPS seems to be failing.
This comes as no surprise to those who closely watch Taiwan’s national security apparatus (which excludes certain self-proclaimed experts at think tanks in the United States).
Endemic procurement corruption, discipline, espionage, recruitment and other problems need to be addressed if Taiwan is to successfully repel an invasion by China.
Perhaps CCAFPS’ school song should be the 1967 movie theme song:
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Woo, woo, woo
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Joltin' Joe has left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey