Taiwan's foreign ministry is moving to fire a senior diplomat who flew abroad and never came back after being charged with corruption — an embarrassment for the ministry and a test of whether officials can be held to account.

• Chen Ying-lien, former head of Taiwan's office in Guam, was charged in June with using public money for personal shopping, taking office property, and falsely claiming expenses.
• Prosecutors say the claims included fake receipts and guest lists for events that never happened, plus over NT$3 million in bogus housing allowance claimed during an earlier posting in Los Angeles.
• Chen took approved leave to Japan in September and has not returned or shown up for work; the ministry says repeated attempts to make contact, including through a spouse, went unanswered.
• The ministry has logged the absence as unauthorized and is convening a review board to impose two major demerits at once, which means dismissal.

Outlook: Dismissal looks all but certain, but the criminal case stalls while Chen stays outside Taiwan, raising questions about whether officials can simply leave to dodge prosecution.