HK Shirking Its Responsibility Over Murder: Taiwan

Taiwan has accused the Hong Kong government of shirking its responsibilities by failing to provide the authorities on the island with evidence in the case of murder suspect Chan Tong-kai.

It emerged on Friday that Chan, who is a Hong Kong resident, is willing to go to Taipei to face justice over the death there last year of his pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said on Saturday that while investigators on the island have been looking into the case, the Hong Kong authorities are shifting responsibility to Taipei by insisting that Chan cannot be prosecuted in the SAR for the murder.

The council urged Hong Kong to continue to detain Chan, who is due to be released next week after being jailed for a money-laundering charge relating to Poon's property.

The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, had earlier said that there is no legal basis for continuing to hold Chan.

Taiwan and Hong Kong have no extradition arrangement and Lam had cited the murder case as a reason for introducing her ill-fated extradition bill, a move which sparked Hong Kong's continuing social unrest.