The case of Chan Tong-kai (陳同佳), the Hong Konger suspected of murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing (潘曉穎), in Taiwan in February last year, was the touch paper that ignited the pro-democracy protests engulfing the territory. With Chan’s surprise early release from prison in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the case threatens to set off a new inferno.
Chan returned to Hong Kong before Taiwanese authorities identified him as a suspect. Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant, but Hong Kong ignored multiple extradition requests.
The territory’s prosecutors later said they were unable to file murder charges due to a lack of evidence, but in April, Chan was convicted of money laundering and handed a 29-month custodial sentence by a Hong Kong court after he used his deceased girlfriend’s bank card to make withdrawals.
While Chan served his sentence, the Hong Kong government used the case to justify new extradition laws in the territory, which would have allowed Chan to be sent to Taiwan and tried for murder. However, the bill would also have allowed any resident of the territory to be extradited to mainland China. Hong Kongers quickly saw through the ruse.
With Chan’s release, after agreeing to a plea bargain, President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration appears to fear that the Hong Kong government might have set a trap.
The cause for suspicion stems from three points: First, having previously fled Taiwan, why has Chan now volunteered to fly here and turn himself in? Was this a condition of the plea bargain?
Second, the Hong Kong government, having previously ignored Taiwan’s extradition requests, said Chan would be allowed to leave Hong Kong.
Third, Hong Kong officials said Chan would fly to Taiwan as a regular passenger without a police escort.
The Mainland Affairs Council called the decision “bizarre,” and said that given Chan is a murder suspect, he would pose a threat to the safety of other passengers.
Although no formal extradition agreement exists between Taiwan and Hong Kong, protocols do exist that would allow for the handing over of criminal suspects, such as airport transfers.
Further fueling suspicions, on the same day Chan was released, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s (林鄭月娥) administration formally withdrew the contentious extradition bill. Was the timing of these two events purely coincidental?
National Security Bureau Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) questioned the timing, saying: “All this is quite dubious, prompting the government to take into account political considerations.”
Taipei might be concerned that if Taiwan allows Chan to fly to Taiwan, circumventing normal extradition protocols, this would disrespect Taiwan’s sovereignty. Even worse, it could set a dangerous precedent, opening the door for the Hong Kong government to bundle its residents onto a train or plane to mainland China without due process.
Given Tsai’s boost in the polls over her stance on the Hong Kong democracy movement, Taipei would want to avoid anything that could inadvertently set a harmful precedent or tarnish her government’s Hong Kong-friendly image.
So far the government has prudently refused Chan entry. Until Lam’s government agrees to extradite Chan in a normal fashion, it should continue to do so.
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