Police are searching for four people who allegedly harassed, harassed and beat a group of Taiwanese citizens because of their ethnicity.
Wu Aiting was walking with three friends, aged in their 20s, when they were attacked by four people, two men and two women, at Brisbane’s Southbank police station on Monday night.
Aiting said the group was following them along the Brisbane River, shouting racial slurs, throwing stones at them and asking them to fight.
One of the victims posted a video of the harassment on Instagram.
“They beat us just because we are Asian,” the caption read.
Wu Aiting (front, centre) was walking with three friends, aged in their 20s, when they were attacked by four people, two women and two men, in Southbank on Monday night.
Mrs. Aiting told 7News that she and her friends tried to get away but were unable to escape the alleged attackers who were chasing her.
“We didn’t say anything and then they started yelling at us, insulting us in Chinese,” he said.
“When they were talking behind us it sounded like (the) devil, it was really scary.”
In the video, one of the attackers can be heard provoking one of Aiting’s male friends to fight him. He repeatedly refuses before being dragged to the ground.
Two of Aiting’s friends were injured in the attack: one woman was hit in the nose and the other in the eye.
When Ms Aiting tried to help her friend off the ground, she said the group also “hit her on the head”.
The friend who was injured in the eye was unable to open it after the attackers fled the scene and broke his glasses, he added.
No weapons were used in the attack.
One of the victims posted footage of the attack on Instagram and it has since gone viral in Taiwan.
Footage of the incident went viral in Taiwan and was shown on several news sites and television stations.
Wayne Ko, from the Federation of Taiwanese Associations of Queensland, said the video was particularly worrying for people in Taiwan.
“(The) Taiwanese community is losing confidence in Queensland police,” he said.
Officers are now actively searching for the attackers and have said they are following all leads. reviewing CCTV and speaking to witnesses.
Police said they consider the case a priority.
