British man with ‘Taiwan’ tattooed on his forehead beat up by 10 Chinese men at Cambodian bar

The men reportedly demanded that he admit that Taiwan is part of China

A British man who drunkenly decided to get the characters “Taiwan” tattooed across his forehead says that he was brutally beaten over the weekend by a group of angry Chinese men in Cambodia.

According to the Taiwan Observer, the incident occurred on Saturday night at a bar in the coastal Cambodian city of Sihanoukville. Here’s how the British expat named Paul described the beating in a Facebook post:

While on vacation in Cambodia , a group of Chinese got enraged simply because my tattoo said Taiwan, and a large group of ten of them attacked me with metal poles and I’ve lost a tooth and two teeth drastically pushed forward, now cannot properly close my mouth. All that sparked it was I took my cap off for a second and one in the group read my tattoo ” Taiwan” and shouted ‘Taiwan zhong guo’ I simply replied ‘Taiwan Taiwan’ and they went insane grabbed poles and started attacking me.

Taiwan News reports that the Chinese men demanded that Paul concede that Taiwan is part of China. In the end, fearing for his life, Paul said, “Okay, you think Taiwan is China I’ll say Taiwan is China, I just want to leave.”

In his Facebook post, Paul included some photos of himself which show blood smeared around his mouth and his shirt torn.

He also included a photo of the tooth that the men had knocked out in the beating.

Paul has lived in Taiwan for 14 years. He married a Taiwanese woman 7 years ago and owns a bar in Kaohsiung.

Last October, he became famous across the island for getting the traditional Chinese characters “Taiwan” (臺灣) tattooed across his forehead and a pro Taiwanese independence flag tattooed on his chin.

Afterward, Paul called the tattoos a foolish, “rash decision” that he made while drunk and now very much regretted. Photos of his face went viral after he visited another tattoo parlor to see if the tattoos could be removed or modified. Unsure what to do, the artist posted a photo of Paul’s face online, asking for help.

In his account of the beating in Cambodia, Paul once again expressed his regret about getting the tattoos, noting that he is planning to get the characters on his forehead removed and that the flag on his chin is gone after four laser treatments: