After being berated with racial slurs for not wearing a mask, an Indian man is pursuing charges against a Taiwanese man for “public insult, embarrassment, and verbal abuse.”
On April 29 at 2:40 p.m., the Indian man, a 36-year-old entrepreneur who asked to be identified only as “Mike,” was grabbing a coffee with an Indian national friend at Louisa Coffee in Hsinchu, Taiwan, reported Taiwan News. A Taiwanese man sitting near Mike then approached him, demanding that he put on a mask.
When Mike explained that he was not wearing one in order to drink his coffee and questioned the Taiwanese man for yelling at him, the man responded, “I’m Taiwanese.”
After the 36-year-old told the Taiwanese man to call the police if he felt that a pandemic regulation had been violated, the Taiwanese man became increasingly aggressive, yelling: “You Indian, Indian man, black man, get out of Taiwan.”
According to Mike, he has been living in Taiwan for seven years with his Taiwanese wife and two children. The man in the video can also be seen criticizing Mike for being unable to speak Chinese.
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“You don’t speak Chinese but you have been living here for seven years?” the Taiwanese man said to Mike.
Mike recorded parts of the incident, which occurred for over 10 minutes, and after the Taiwanese man called the police, who arrived at the scene around 15 minutes after the incident began.
After checking both of the men’s identifications, the Taiwanese man was let go, and Mike was told to file a report at the police station. Officers reassured Mike that he did not violate any law and would not be charged with fines. Under the criminal code of Offenses Against Reputation, Mike pressed charges for “public insult, embarrassment, and verbal abuse.”
Mike told Taiwan News that the incident was the first time he had faced racism while living in Taiwan and was disheartened that “people like him are destroying Taiwan’s reputation.”
“But I won’t let it go, I’m giving my voice on behalf of every single person who is being insulted or abused,” Mike was quoted as saying.
Feature Image via Taiwan News
