by Our Foreign Desk

A TAIWANESE woman who gave birth on a flight was deported without her child on arrival in the US and may be fined.

China Airlines spokesman Weni Lee said yesterday that the Taiwanese flag carrier’s insurance firm would decide whether to demand that the unnamed woman pay the cost of the resulting emergency diversion to Alaska.

Taiwanese media have estimated the bill to reach around £21,500, although the airline said that its insurer was still calculating the cost.

The case has exposed prejudices and mistreatment of immigrants in Taiwan and the US.

The woman, who gave birth on a flight from Taipei to Los Angeles on October 8, has been accused by MPs and media of attempting to gain US citizenship for her child.

The Taiwan-based China Times newspaper claimed that she repeatedly asked cabin crew: “Are we in US airspace?”

It also alleged that she lied to airline staff, saying she was 32 weeks pregnant when in fact she was at 36 weeks.

Under Taiwanese law, passengers must provide a medical certificate saying they are fit to fly if they have passed the 32nd week of pregnancy.

In parliament on Monday, Kuomintang MP Luo Shu Lei branded the woman’s actions as selfish.

“It was clearly an act carried out to give the child US citizenship. She affected the travel of other passengers. Is there no punishment?” Ms Luo asked Transportation and Communications Minister Chen Jian Yu.

The mother was deported from Alaska to Taiwan without her baby on Saturday, an act that the US authorities have not explained.