Taiwanese woman charged over suspected poisoning of Australian exchange student Alex Shorey in 2023

A woman has been charged in Taiwan with the attempted murder of an Australian foreign exchange student.

Prosecutors allege the woman secretly gave Alex Shorey rat poison for months before he fell critically ill last year.

The now-24-year-old from Queensland was studying a one-year program in Taipei when he decided to cut the trip short and return home.

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It will be alleged a woman, described as Shorey’s “girlfriend”, was upset at his decision to leave.

According to the ABC, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office allege Yang Ping repeatedly poisoned Shorey over the course of several months from March 2023 to prevent him from leaving the country.

Shorey was flown back to Australia in May 2023 after his family crowdfunded more than $200,000 for the medical evacuation.

His Taiwanese employer earlier told 7NEWS said she offered for him to stay with her after he fell ill, but he instead chose to be with another woman, now believed to be Ping.

Elly Chen says she employed Shorey as an English teacher in her online education businesses in February.

Shorey, a 24-year-old Toowoomba native, was “happy, outgoing and friendly” and “parents and students love him a lot”, according to Chen.

“One month later, he was suffering in the ICU (intensive care unit),” Chen told 7NEWS.

Chen said Shorey first reported feeling sick in late March.

He had lost his appetite, was dizzy and had nose bleeds, she said.

“I came to his apartment and I saw blood everywhere. Blood on pillow and tissue. I said, ‘Alex I think you have to go to ER’,” Chen said.

The 42-year-old mother took Shorey to the hospital, where he treated for suspected food poisoning and released.

Chen dropped him home and stayed with him overnight to help him recover.

She offered to take Shorey to her house to take care of him, but he declined and said he would stay with a friend, she said.

Chen said she was in contact with Shorey by text but has not seen him since March 27, 2023.

Over the next couple of weeks, Shorey reported his health deteriorating to the point he couldn’t walk, she said.

In late April, it emerged Shorey was in a critical condition in Taipei Medical University Hospital, with a GoFundMe set up by his Queensland-based family to raise money for his medical evacuation to Brisbane.

Chen said Shorey had told her that doctors had determined he was poisoned with rat poison.

“He text me right me away (and said), ‘It’s rat poison. It’s superwarfarin’,” she said.