Chan Tong-kai Contacts CE About Handing Himself In

The government says the Chief Executive Carrie Lam has received a letter from the Hong Kong man who set in motion the government's ill-fated bid to introduce an extradition law that sparked the ongoing protests.

Chan Tong-kai had confessed to killing his pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing, in Taipei last year. He fled to Hong Kong but couldn't be sent back to Taiwan because of the lack of an extradition agreement.

In the letter, he said he has decided to surrender himself to Taiwan. He also asked the SAR government for assistance.

Hong Kong Police have now contacted Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau and offered their help.

Chan is currently serving a prison sentence here for money laundering, after taking his dead girlfriend's money and valuables.

It was his impending release that the government says drove its push to quickly enact an extradition law that would have allowed Hong Kong to send crime suspects to places with which it has no formal extradition agreement.

But the Chief Executive was forced to withdraw the legislation after months of escalating protests, as the law would also have allowed extradition to the mainland on a case by case basis.