Former Bamboo Union gang leader Chen Chi-li (
"It has been confirmed that they will expel him in a few days," a secretary surnamed Lan at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City said in a telephone interview.
Lan, who has been negotiating Chen's case with his Cambodian counterpart over the past few months, said the Chinese embassy in Cambodia was unlikely to issue Chen a travel document to facilitate his extradition to China.
"The Cambodian side has been in contact with the Chinese embassy but they expressed little willingness to extradite him to China," Lan said.
Chinese language media reported yesterday that some Bamboo Union members had reacted to Cambodia during the past few days to help arrange Chen's extradition. Reports also suggested that China was willing to accept Chen, just as they had allowed Chang An-le (張安樂) also known as "White Wolf" (白狼) to seek residence in China. Chang is also a former Bamboo Union leader.
"One can't rule out the possibility of Chen emigrating to China through illegal channels," Lan said.
Lan disputed reports that Cambodian officials had offered to extradite Chen to Taiwan in exchange for US$1 million.
"The actual price offered by Cambodia was US$500,000," Lan said, adding that Taiwan had already rejected the offer.
"Cambodia has long said it wanted to kick him out, and it's okay for them to extradite him to Taiwan. But the price offered was too high," Lan said.
Chen was charged with forming an illegal armed group and with illegal possession of weapons in Cambodia in July last year and has been detained by the country's military police since that time. The court in Phnom Penh deferred its sentencing of Chen on Friday for unknown reasons.
Katharine Chang (張小月), spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the case was handled mostly by police units across national borders, and declined to offer any related information.
A police officer involved in the case has said that, while extradition requests in some other countries were relatively straightforward, no extradition treaty exists between Taiwan and Cambodia.
Taiwan and Cambodia have never cooperated on such matters because extradition treaties are usually based on diplomatic recognition, sources said.
According to the foreign ministry, only six countries have extradition treaties with Taiwan, all of which are located in South America or Africa -- areas where Taiwanese fugitives rarely seek refuge.
While declining to issue Chen a travel document to facilitate his extradition to China, the Chinese embassy in Cambodia has expressed its hope that it would not see Chen extradited to Taiwan, Lan said.
"Chen is a criminal wanted by the law, and to request Cambodia extradite him to Taiwan is the conduct of a sovereign state. So China has been unwilling to see that happen," Lan said.
The 59-year-old Chen was the former boss of the Bamboo Union, one of Taiwan's most powerful organized crime groups. Chen is wanted in Taiwan on charges of racketeering and bid rigging on a highway construction project.
Chen and two leading gang members were convicted in 1985 of plotting the murder of an ethnic Chinese author gunned down in California while reportedly writing a book which was supposedly critical of then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (
Chen was released in 1991 after serving six years of a life sentence. He then fled to Cambodia after further charges were brought against him.
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