Taiwanese jailed for attacking a transwoman; claims he was blackmailed

Transwoman's friend belies jailed Taiwanese allegations

LOOK: A Taiwanese national got jailed for allegedly physically assaulting and pushing off a transwoman whom he accused of catfishing and trying to rob him. | Contributed photo by Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A Taiwanese national got unlucky in his quest to find a match on a dating app after he found himself behind bars for allegedly attacking a transwoman here last Sunday, April 7.

But the foreigner claimed and accused the transwoman of blackmailing, catfishing and trying to rob him instead.

Police from the Mabolo Police Station confirmed that a 32-year-old foreigner was turned over to their custody late Sunday evening for physically assaulting a trans.

He was identified as Cheng-Shin Shen, a resident of Taiwan.

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Taiwanese version: How it allegedly happened

The incident apparently occurred inside a motel in North Reclamation Area (NRA) past 9 p.m. on Sunday, where Cheng met the transwoman identified as Crisward Lansang, police said.

Based on police reports, Cheng pushed and struck Lansang inside the motel. As a result, the trans sustained injuries on different parts of her body.

However, Cheng accused Lansang of catfishing and blackmailing him, which led him to attack the transwoman as ‘self-defense.’

According to the Taiwanese, he and Lansang met on a dating app and agreed to personally see each other in a motel last Sunday.

But when they did, Cheng was surprised to see that Lansang was a transwoman, and not an assigned female at birth (AFAB), or biological woman.

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The foreigner tried to call off their rendezvous but added that Lansang’s friends came suddenly and cornered him. They tried to blackmail him by asking him to pay them P10,000, he said.

When he refused, they apparently tried to take his wallet and smartphone, leading Shen to push Lansang whose head then hit the table.

Lansang’s friends, in retaliation, allegedly attacked Cheng and pushed him over the stairs of the motel’s second floor. As a result, the foreigner sustained injuries on his backside.

Cheng, who is currently detained at Mabolo Police Station, also said that Lansang allegedly offered to settle if he would agree to pay them P100,000 for injuring her.

Taiwanese claims belied

However, the transwoman friend of Lansang in an interview with dyHP, who asked for anonymity, belied the Taiwanese claims that he did not know that Lansang and herself was a transwoman when they went into the motel.

The transwoman friend claimed that they allegedly had a offered “their services” inside the motel but when it was time for the foreigner to pay he allegedly did not want to pay them for “their services.”

And that was when the argument started. The Taiwanese allegedly smashed a cellphone into the face of Lansang causing her to fall down and causing a gash on her eyebrows.

The transwoman friend of Lansang claimed that nobody pushed the Taiwanese from the motel’s stairs, but he allegedly fell down when he panicked after seeing blood from the face of Lansang.

The friend of Lansang also belied claims of the Taiwanese that they asked for a P100,000 to settle their differences.

“Di ta ni moabot dinhi (police station) kung mao pa na (among tuyo)),” Lansang’s friend said.

(Then this should not have reach here (police station) if that is (what we wanted)).

Police, meanwhile, continue to conduct further investigations to shed light on the matter.