Taiwan Media: Three Suspected American Soldiers Beaten up In Drunken Street Fight Outside of a Brothel
According to multiple Taiwan media reports published on March 12, 2024, three suspected American servicemen were beaten and injured in a street brawl with Taiwan locals last year on December 26, 2023. The Taiwanese newspaper UDN reported that the fight occurred outside of a “massage parlor” nicknamed “the Vietnamese Shop” on Zhongzheng road, Magong City, Penghu Island, at approximately 1:00AM.
Three Chinese men identified as Lu Moujin (呂某進), Liu Mozi (劉某瑟), and Zhuang Mouxing (莊某興) were entering an elevator when they physically collided with three American men identified only as Benjamin, Tolerik, and Jospeh. An argument broke out. Due to being intoxicated and a language barrier, the argument escalated into pushing and shoving.
As the Americans began to leave. Lu Moujin reportedly grabbed a chair, chased down the Americans, and smashed Benjamin over the head. When Tolerik and Joseph saw this, they attempted to separate the two sides, but Lu allegedly continued to attack Benjamin, causing Benjamin to suffer blunt force contusions and abrasions on his head. The police were called and arrived on scene afterwards. After conducting an investigation and determining that a crime was committed, Lu Moujin (呂某進), Liu Mozi (劉某瑟), and Zhuang Mouxing (莊某興) were taken into custody. In March 2024, the Penghu district court sentenced the three men to 6 months in prison after a trial.
Rumors are now circulating on Penghu that the three American men were special forces soldiers from the United States military, whom recently were reported to have been deployed to Penghu, Kinmen, and other outlying islands controlled by Taiwan. This rumor is based on the local news that the three Americans, despite their injuries, were unwilling to file charges against their attackers when the police arrived. In addition, the three Americans identified themselves as employees of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT — the American unofficial embassy) to the authorities. Lastly, the three Americans refused to give their personal information to the hospital and quietly left the hospital before the doctor arrived to assist them. This may have been due to the Americans’ sensitive identities.
The local police and prosecutor have declined to comment to the media about this incident.
Two days after the incident was reported to the media, on March 16, a retired Taiwan Air Force Lieutenant General Zhang Yanting (張延廷) was interviewed by the Taiwan TV station: Zhongtian’s “Lu Xiufang Evening News.” Zhang stated that he believes that if the three Americans were indeed American special forces soldiers deployed to Taiwan, the Americans may have been ordered to keep a low profile and not reveal their identities. In addition, because the fight happened near a “massage parlor” the Americans may have feared that if they were caught, they would have been disciplined.
Zhang Yanting also stated that he suspects that the Americans may have let the Chinese beat them up and the Americans did not fight back, because Zhang claimed that when he was in the air force, he met an American special forces major “who had arms as thick as thighs” and that “it would be impossible for them to lose a [street] fight.”
