English Teacher Harasses Elderly Woman in Taipei Metro, Curses Chinese People

The incident occurred at the MRT station on May 5 at around 5 p.m. A 44-year-old man, identified only by his surname, Huang, saw a foreign man kick the suitcase of an elderly woman – believed to be in her 60s – that was in his path at the bottom of the escalator.

He then heard the man curse the elderly woman in English, according to Taiwan News. However, Huang did not like the way the foreign man acted towards the elderly.

He confronted him and asked him to apologize, but the foreigner, identified by Apple Daily as Brian, an English teacher living in Taiwan, shove off Huang’s demand by replying, “It’s none of your business.” The 44-year-old man, however, did not take his reply to heart and continued to ask him again.

This is when Brian began to make racist remarks — not just towards Huang, but to everyone else in the MRT station as well. “F**k you Chinese,” he told Huang before shouting “F**k all you Chinese” and flipping him off.

Huang then took to a Facebook group focusing on New Taipei City’s Xindian District (我們是新店人!! 好山好水，就是愛新店) to tell everyone there what happened. Then a user with surname Yeh posted images of Brian in the group, which shows a foreign man wearing a baseball cap with tattoos on his arm thrusting his middle finger at the 44-year-old man.

Huang also went to the Ximen MRT Police Department to press charges against Brian for public insulting.

In Taiwan, those who will be charged with public insulting may face short-term imprisonment and/or a fine. The Article 309 of Taiwan’s Criminal Code wrote:

“A person who publicly insults another shall be sentenced to short-term imprisonment or a fine of not more than three hundred yuan.

The person who will be subjected to this can face a jail time as high as 59 days or a fine with a maximum amount of 9,000 New Taiwan dollar ($300), according to a prosecutor speaking to the media in February.

Brian was immediately brought in for questioning after authorities reviewed the surveillance footage from the MRT station. Weirdly enough, the man expressed his openness to reconcile with Huang despite his pure intention of cursing him in public and did apologize in a video.

Huang, however, did not find the man’s intention for reconciliation to be sincere. Instead, he insisted on pressing charges against him, citing the reason, “The dignity of the Taiwanese people should not be trampled upon,” adding that “He lied about his actions that day. I don’t think he is sincere about reconciling.”

“This English teacher who is so unfriendly to Taiwanese people comes to Taiwan to teach our children English, I am very worried.”

Huang’s case will enter the judicial process, according to Taiwan News.

Images via Taiwan News