A woman identified as a doctoral student at a Chinese university received a 10-day detention sentence for slapping an airport worker in Wuhan.
June 9 (UPI) — A woman identified as a doctoral student at a Chinese university received a 10-day detention sentence for slapping an airport worker in Wuhan.
The woman identified under the pseudonym Zhang was scheduled to board an Air France flight to Paris on Thursday, but arrived a few minutes after the gates had closed, Beijing’s Global Times reported .
A female employee informed Zhang she would not be allowed to board since she arrived 14 minutes after the closing of the gates, and the plane was scheduled to take off at 10: 35 a.m.
Zhang claimed she was only “five minutes late” and asked to be put on the flight, adding she had a “very important” conference to attend.
Pandemonium broke out after the employee with the surname Duan turned down her request.
Zhang reached over the counter to slap Duan while the employee was answering a phone call, striking her repeatedly for about three seconds.
The incident was recorded in a video clip that has since gone viral in China.
Zhang Qihuai, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, said Zhang’s sentence is “particularly harsh, ” the Global Times reported.
The offender may also be placed on a Chinese aviation industry blacklist. Air France has asked nine airports in the country to place her on a passenger blacklist.
The Chinese government is sensitive to incidents ranging from rudeness to outright violence among its traveling citizens.
The government blacklisted travelers after they threw hot instant noodles at an attendant on a flight from Bangkok in 2014.
China has condemned ill-behaved nationals as ” uncivilized tourists ” who have become “a major issue in our oversight of the tourism industry.”
