The government would maintain contact with Taiwanese student associations abroad, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said yesterday, following reports last week of an attack against a Taiwanese woman in New York.
The 31-year-old victim, identified only by her first name, Theresa, was on May 2 hit on the head with a hammer while walking with a friend to a subway station in Manhattan, New York’s WABC-TV reported on Tuesday last week.
Theresa, who recently graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, told WABC-TV that the female assailant had told her and her friend to take off their masks, the report said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
It said that Theresa, who had returned to New York last month to look for work after staying with her parents in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic, would be returning to Taiwan “for the time being.”
At a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee in Taipei yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) asked Pan how the personal safety of Taiwanese studying in the US could be protected amid reports of attacks against people of Asian descent.
Pan said he regretted the violent incident and that the government’s overseas offices have always been, and would continue to be, in contact with Taiwanese student associations abroad.
Kung asked the ministry to look into how many Taiwanese students have been attacked in the US, adding that some students might no longer want to travel abroad despite being granted admission by schools.
Students who would be studying abroad on a government scholarship would not need to hurry to start their studies within a specific time period while the pandemic continues, Pan said, adding that the ministry would protect their rights.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York said in a statement on Wednesday last week that it strongly condemned the attack on Theresa, who is believed to have Taiwanese and US citizenship.
Although New York police, citing privacy concerns, said they could not provide the victim’s identity or contact information, the office has given her a way to contact the office for assistance at any time, it said.
There has been a recent surge in anti-Asian crimes in the New York area, the office said, adding that it would remind Taiwanese abroad to be alert.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
RSS