TAOYUAN CITY, Oct. 4 — A heated altercation broke out between two Vietnamese female migrant workers and a taxi driver near Taoyuan Railway Station around 7 p.m. on Thursday, following a disagreement over the fare and route. Both parties sustained minor injuries during the scuffle and have filed mutual assault complaints, police confirmed.
According to reports, the two women boarded a taxi from Taoyuan Railway Station to Bade District. However, due to issues with the address entered into the GPS, the driver circled back toward their starting point. Believing the driver had intentionally taken the wrong route, the passengers refused to pay the fare. The driver, insisting he should still be compensated for the trip, argued with the women, which escalated into a physical confrontation.
One of the women later took to social media, claiming that the driver had beaten and berated her, and that police officers were “indifferent” to her complaint because she was a foreigner. “I called the police, but they treated me coldly because I might be a foreigner,” she wrote. “I doubt whether Taiwan’s laws are really that good.”
Taoyuan City Councilor Huang Qionghui said the two women had reached out to her for assistance, alleging that the driver not only drove them to the wrong location but also assaulted them inside the vehicle. The driver, in turn, claimed his phone was taken while he was recording the incident.
Huang urged the police to obtain the driver’s dashboard footage to clarify what happened. She also explained to the women that Taiwan’s legal procedures for compensation differ from those in Vietnam, emphasizing that civil damages must be agreed upon by both sides or decided by a court.
The Taoyuan Police Department confirmed that officers arrived at the scene promptly after receiving the report. They escorted both women to the hospital for medical evaluation and statement-taking, and will summon the driver for questioning.
Police reiterated that all parties involved are being treated equally under the law and that the investigation remains ongoing.