Chinese woman slaps airport staff, smashes computer over cancelled flight

Once again, a Chinese tourist has made headlines for her boorish behaviour in public.

A woman has been detained for 10 days after being caught assaulting an airport staff member in China.

She was filmed slapping a male staff member at an airport in northeastern China - all because her flight was cancelled, reported South China Morning Post.

The incident happened on Thursday (July 27) at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, according to a Beijing Time report. The flight from Shenyang to Changsha was cancelled after a delay of five hours due to bad weather.

An eye-witness filmed the altercation between the passenger, surnamed Li, hitting the victim repeatedly with her right hand.

The footage shows the man reacting calmly as he moved away from her as she kept slapping his head, which thereafter caused him to bleed.

A police officer told the newspaper that "dozens of angry passengers" swarmed the airline counter for an explanation.

Surnamed Xu, the officer added that someone screamed 'Hit him, hit him!' but no one did except Li.

The woman, who is reportedly in her 40s, also smashed a computer at the counter.

The victim, who was seen bleeding from his head, filed a police report after the attack.

While netizens berated the passenger for her actions, they were full of praise for the staff member. They expressed amazement at how he could still manage a beatific smile at the passenger as he was being assaulted.

"His sense of duty is too much!", wrote one Weibo user, while another praised his "high EQ".

As for Li, she was detained by police for 10 days and slapped with a fine of 200 yuan (S$40) - an amount netizens weren't too happy with.

"A penalty of 200 yuan? That's ridiculous. They should have at least fined her 5,000 yuan," one wrote on Weibo.

This is not the first time Chinese passengers have made the news for their poor behaviour in public.

Last year, passengers at China's Changsha Huanghua Airport hit out at airport personnel after learning that their flight was delayed.

One threw her lunch box and its contents at a staff member while another slapped a ground crew member.

Just last month, a Chinese PhD student from a prestigious university in Wuhan was blacklisted on all Air France flights after she slapped an airport check-in staff in central China.

Back in 2013, the Chinese government introduced a 64-page rulebook containing guidelines for its mainland citizens on how to behave while abroad.

ssandrea@sph.com.sg