The horror.
As a salaried employee, I have no problem working overtime when needed or doing some of my training on my own time. I work for a large US company, and hourly, non-exempt employees don’t do required training on their own time or at a reduced rate. If teaching the summer camp is required and the training is required, then paying half equals Hess being cheap and getting away with it because they can. Unless this policy is spelled out in your contract. If the summer camp is optional or the training is optional, then half pay does not seem horribly unreasonable. Either way, if you like the job and want to stay in management’s good graces, sounds like you don’t have much of an option.
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If we were talking about a salaried employee, I would agree. But not for hourly.
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For any job subject to the Labor Standards Act (such as buxiban teaching), the clear distinction between hourly and monthly pay doesn’t exist here, legally speaking. Salary is wage, and wage is salary, and whether it’s monthly or hourly only matters for calculation purposes.
The reduced rate of 290/h is still well above the Basic Wage (aka minimum wage), so if there’s any legal problem here, it’s (1) the employer’s failure to meet its obligation to give the worker the agreed amount of work (weekly hours), which might also be a violation of the employer’s obligation to the government in relation to the work permit (under the Employment Service Act’s subsidiary regulations), and/or (2) the employer’s unilateral decision to lower the wage aka refusal to pay the worker in full, which would be a violation of both the contract and LSA Art. 22 Par. 2.
That said, depending on how the contract is worded, the lower wage for training may actually be correct, and the compulsory nature of the training may also be correct, and if I’m reading the OP correctly, the employer is not refusing to provide the agreed amount of work but rather insisting on the training as a condition of the contract.
My advice is to read the contract again, carefully, and if it’s bilingual then of course scrutinize the Chinese version. If it’s still not clear whether the employer’s actions are appropriate or not, ask the labor department (in the city or county where the work takes place) for further advice. They can also hook you up with a lawyer.
In ethical terms, assuming the employer is abiding by the contract and the law, and the training is actually beneficial, it sounds reasonable to me. 
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This is comedy gold. 
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Since Hess has been in the game for so long I would be surprised if they didn’t have this training requirement in the contract.
OP, is the training/summer camp mentioned in your contract?
