'Taiwan Can't Let Chan Tong-kai Come And Go Freely'

Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Monday that that island is not going to allow a murder suspect to come and go freely, adding more uncertainty over a planned surrender by Chan Tong-kai.

The decision by Chan, who Hong Kong police say has confessed to murdering his girlfriend in Taipei two years ago, had led to a war of statements by the Hong Kong and Taipei authorities.

Su's comments come after Taiwan's interior minister Hsu Kuo-yung told the Legislative Yuan that he has only heard about Chan's intention to surrender himself via media reports, but that the authorities on the island have not received any formal message through any official channels from Chan or the Hong Kong government.

Taiwan's immigration ministry said Chan is not barred from going there, but he's been marked as someone who cannot apply for a visa online.

It told RTHK that a channel for communication had been set up between police forces of the two places. The SAR government, however, had denied this channel exists.

Meanwhile, Reverend Peter Koon said Chan will be represented by Taipei-based law firm Lee and Li, and lawyers from the firm will be meeting with Taiwan authorities to discuss the issue. RTHK tried to contact the law firm but there was no response.

The Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, had cited Chan's case as the reason for introducing her ill-fated extradition bill, which sparked Hong Kong's worst unrest since the 1997 handover.