The government has established a “channel” with the Hong Kong Police Force through which murder suspect Chan Tong-kai (陳同佳) can surrender himself to Taiwanese authorities, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said yesterday.
The channel was set up through the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council and the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Cooperation and Promotion Council, Chen said during questioning by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee in Taipei.
The government has asked Hong Kong to tell Chan how to make contact, he said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Asked by the lawmaker whether foreigners who have committed crimes in Taiwan could return to the nation on their own to surrender to police, Chen Ming-tong said that would involve aviation safety issues and that murder suspects must be escorted.
If murder suspects are allowed onto an airplane without an escort, then the “government has neglected its duty,” he said.
People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said that the council had “incorrectly judged” Chan’s proposal to surrender.
Chen Ming-tong said that it had not and that he insists on having “mutual legal assistance.”
Mutual legal assistance is needed to fight crime together, as well as to highlight Taiwan’s sovereignty, he said, adding that sending Taiwanese authorities to Hong Kong to bring Chan back would be “mutual legal assistance.”
Separately yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) rejected criticism by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that the government had made a U-turn on its position regarding how to handle Chan.
Developments in the case explain why the government urged Hong Kong authorities not to take the matter lightly in the first place, Su told reporters at an event to meet the nation’s Olympic team in Taoyuan.
The government repeatedly urged Hong Kong to detain Chan following his release this week from prison on theft and money laundering charges, and not to allow the suspect of a felony to travel freely, he said.
The Hong Kong government said that it would allow Chan to travel to Taiwan on his own and Peter Koon (管浩鳴), an Anglican clergyman, on Wednesday said that Chan “needed time on his own,” Su told reporters.
“How much time does he need on his own?” Su asked, adding that the Hong Kong government is now acting as if it does not care whether Chan comes to Taiwan.
Chan has appointed C.V. Chen (陳長文), a senior partner at the Taipei-based law firm Lee and Li, as his lawyer in Taiwan, local media reported.
However, C.V. Chen said that due to the sensitivity of the matter, he could neither confirm nor deny that information.
C.V. Chen served as the first secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation when it was founded in 1991.
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