The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said that it had contacted the Hong Kong government to ask its permission to hand murder suspect Chan Tong-kai (陳同佳) over to Taiwanese prosecutors and police sent to the territory, so that he could stand trial in Taiwan.
The council made the request by telephone and wrote the Hong Kong government a letter, MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) told a news conference in Taipei.
The Hong Kong and Taiwanese governments both have jurisdiction over the case, but the former has priority, Chiu said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The Taiwanese government would not forfeit its right to try Chan, he said, apparently responding to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) criticism that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would turn Taiwan into a “crime haven” if it said that it would not accept Chan entering the nation as a free man.
Chan, who is suspected of killing his pregnant girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing (潘曉穎) in Taiwan in February last year before returning to Hong Kong, reportedly said that he would be willing to turn himself in to Taiwanese authorities once released from prison in Hong Kong today.
He was serving a 29-month sentence related to the theft of Poon’s belongings.
The incident was one of the contributing factors behind the Hong Kong government’s proposal to implement an anti-extradition bill this year.
Seeing as Hong Kong is reluctant to handle the case, which is regrettable, Taipei has devised a plan to resolve the matter pragmatically, Chiu said.
“If the Hong Kong government will not investigate, we will,” he said.
The government would review the case on the condition that Hong Kong formally extradites Chan through mutual judicial assistance, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said earlier yesterday.
Su made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting at the Legislative Yuan, where he was asked by reporters whether it would mean that the mutual judicial assistance that Taipei had requested from Hong Kong had been denied if Chan was simply allowed to travel to Taiwan.
Authorities on both sides have jurisdiction over the case, but since the suspect and the victim’s family members are in Hong Kong, Hong Kong’s judiciary should try the case and hold the suspect to account, rather than creating a “window period” in the judicial process by allowing him to travel at will, Su said.
If Hong Kong wants to engage in mutual judicial assistance, it should subject Chan to questioning and supply Taiwan’s judiciary with any records or evidence it has collected, the premier said, adding that Taiwan’s judiciary would then try Chan based on that information.
If Chan comes to Taiwan, it would not be for a health checkup, and the judiciary cannot try him based solely on his testimony when a substantial amount of evidence is in Hong Kong, he added.
Hong Kong has made a U-turn regarding the case, as since last year it has snubbed the nation’s repeated calls for mutual legal assistance.
As the Hong Kong government is controlled by Beijing, Su said that the nation would not be duped by China, which likely wants to send Chan to Taiwan to justify the withdrawn extradition bill.
He urged the Hong Kong government not to attempt to resolve the issue through political manipulation.
Later during an question-and-answer session with People First Party Legislator Chou Chen Hsiu-hsia (周陳秀霞), Su said that Chan had planned the murder before coming to Taiwan last year.
As of press time last night, the council was still awaiting a response from the Hong Kong government.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from