Brit Expat On Cambodian Holiday Beaten Up By Chinese Gang

A British expat resident in Taiwan for 14 years fell foul of a violent Chinese gang due to his facial tattoo.

Paul Farrell became a naturalised Taiwanese citizen after his marriage to a Taiwanese woman, adopting the Chinese name ‘Lohan’ and opening a bar in the city of Kaohsiung. Also, in a moment of new-found patriotism aided by alcohol, he had his face tattooed, with the Chinese characters for Taiwan etched on his forehead and the Taiwanese independence flag on his chin. Sobriety and second thoughts soon kicked in and, before his holiday in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville tourist town, he’d already had the flag removed, but needed more laser work on his forehead.

Last Saturday, as he was drinking in a Sihanoukville bar, his tattoo was noticed by a gang of Chinese construction workers, resulting in an argument which soon became a brawl. To the Chinese, the breakaway island of Taiwan is considered a part of China, with its continuing independence seen as an insult to the entire Chinese nation. The Chinese gang shouted ‘Taiwan, China’ in Mandarin and Paul shouted back ‘Taiwan, Taiwan’, causing the gang to grab metal poles and attack him.

Paul claimed later they wanted him to state the island was, in fact, part of China and, fearing for his life, he replied Taiwan was indeed part of China. By then, he’d suffered a wound to his head, two teeth had been knocked out and two more damaged, his lip was swollen and bleeding and he’d bruises all over his body. Later, he admitted to regret over his drunken idea to have his face tattooed, saying he should have had the work done on another part of his body. The British expat’s time in Taiwan hasn’t exactly been peaceful as it includes a police record for drunk driving and an incident involving a Molotov cocktail and a hamburger joint.