Taiwanese citizen assaulted by mainland Chinese tourists in Cambodia, reports say
Attackers reportedly launch assault after being upset by British-born man’s ‘Taiwan’ tattoo
A British-born Taiwanese was beaten up in Cambodia on Saturday by a group of Chinese men who took offence at the fact he had the word “Taiwan” tattooed on his forehead, according to two Taiwan-based newspaper reports.
The victim, Paul Farrell, had lived and worked in Taiwan for 14 years and became a citizen of the self-ruled island seven years ago after marrying a local woman, Taiwan News reported.
The report said the 30-something was in a bar in the city of Sihanoukville when the alleged attack took place, but did not say why he was there or who he was with.
According to a separate report by Taiwan Observer, Farrell was in a bar when an unidentified Chinese man spotted his tattoo, which is written in Mandarin.
The man apparently shouted “Taiwan, China” in Mandarin, to which Farrell replied, “Taiwan, Taiwan”.
The Chinese men launched then allegedly their assault, which according to the newspaper report left Farrell with two missing teeth, a split lip and multiple bruises.
The report said that hundreds of people witnessed the assault, but did not mention if the police were called, or how the incident was subsequently handled.
According to the Taiwan Observer report, Farrell later wrote about his experience on Facebook, saying “a group of Chinese got enraged simply because my tattoo said Taiwan, and a large group of 10 of them attacked me with metal poles, and I’ve lost a tooth and two teeth [are] drastically pushed forward”.
He said that he got the tattoo in October at the same time he had the Taiwan independence flag inked onto his chin. He had the latter surgically removed sometime later.
The South China Morning Post was unable to find any record of the Facebook post, and Farrell did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
