The issue of how to handle Hong Kong murder suspect Chan Tong-kai (陳同佳) is akin to a “demon-revealing mirror” that can reveal not only the demon, but also the “demon within the demon,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
Su made the remark on the sidelines of a meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei following a statement earlier yesterday by the Reverend Peter Koon (管浩鳴), a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Anglican clergyman, saying that Chan would surrender to Taiwanese authorities after January’s presidential and legislative elections.
Chan has reportedly confessed to Hong Kong police that he killed his pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing (潘曉穎), in February last year while visiting Taiwan, before returning to Hong Kong.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The Hong Kong government on Monday notified Taiwan that Chan would like to “turn himself in” to Taiwanese authorities after leaving prison. He was on Wednesday released from a Hong Kong prison after serving a suspended sentence for theft and money laundering charges.
It appears that “a close friend of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)” planned to “let the Hong Kong government off the hook” regarding a controversy over a now-withdrawn extradition bill — the catalyst for months-long protests in the territory — by representing Chan, Su said.
The premier was referring to lawyer C.V. Chen (陳長文), who was the first secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation when it was founded in 1991.
Su said that Chen representing Chan and Ma’s “fake crying” on Tuesday apparently to show sympathy for the victim’s family are linked to “a clergyman who doubles as a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference member” who has acted as an intermediary between Chen and the Hong Kong government.
He likened the situation to a “demon-revealing mirror that has revealed the demon and the demon within the demon.”
If the government is not vigilant, it could remain in the dark after Taiwan has fallen into a trap, Su said.
During a question-and-answer session with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲), Su denied that the Mainland Affairs Council and the National Immigration Agency had interfered with the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office’s investigation into the case by denying Chen entry into the nation.
The government has repeatedly urged Hong Kong to press murder charges against Chan due to its proximity and access, but it has instead allowed the suspect of a felony to travel freely, he said.
After Su said that Chan would no longer be coming to Taiwan, Lu said that he would, as he has been communicating with Koon.
The situation is “out of control,” Su said.
Lu then appeared stumped when Su asked her when Chan would apply to visit Taiwan.
The government should “do what it should” regarding Chan’s case, Lu said, to which Su replied that it has been doing exactly that.
Separately yesterday, Ma said Su’s analogy showed that he is unfit to be premier, adding that its absurdity was dumbfounding.
From President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to her ministers, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has made a string of blunders, as none of them seem to know that Hong Kong does not have jurisdiction over a criminal case that occurred outside its borders, Ma said.
The DPP got itself into a sticky situation and has resorted to scapegoating, he added.
Additional reporting by Wu Cheng-ting
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