TAIPEI - A CHINESE woman has been arrested in Taiwan for allegedly beating her estranged Taiwanese husband with wooden sticks and chaining him up in her home for more than a month.

The victim, identified only by his surname Hsu, suffered wounds and bruises all over his body and lost 20kg due to starvation, police in the southern city of Kaohsiung said yesterday.

'She put socks in my mouth to keep me quiet when beating me and only gave me food every three or four days...She threatened to kill me and our son if I went to the police,' a visibly shaken Mr Hsu told CtiTV.

Police said Mr Hsu was forcefully taken by his wife, identified only as Lin, to her Kaohsiung apartment last month and chained to a window. Mr Hsu, 42, met the 34-year-old Lin, who came from China's south-eastern Fujian province, through a matchmaking agency and they married nine years ago.

Lin complained that her husband made too little money and began abusing him four years ago, police said, adding that she had sought a divorce but he refused 'for the sake of his son'.

The case came to light only when social workers and police went to their house after the son, aged eight, had missed several weeks of school.

The wife admitted to confining her husband, but claimed that she was upset because he refused to take care of their son and often demanded money from her, police said.

Prosecutors are investigating the case. Lin could face battery and assault charges in addition to charges of restricting personal freedom.

The case is a twist to a more widespread worry that foreign spouses face discrimination in Taiwan as they are seen as inferior 'mail-order brides' who tend to marry Taiwanese men from the lower socio-economic strata.

Taiwan is seeing a growing number of spouses from mainland China and other regions, especially South-east Asia, in recent years.

The trend has caught the attention of Taiwanese politicians and has become an issue in the presidential election campaign.

Mr Frank Hsieh, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for president, was criticised on Tuesday for calling husbands of foreign brides 'stud boars', the China Post reported.

He denied using that term and blasted the media for misquoting him, hurting his chances to win the presidential election on March 22.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE