'Taiwan's Rejection Means No Rush On Extraditions'

Liberal Party leader Felix Chung said on Friday that there is no reason for Hong Kong to rush into changing laws on extraditions now Taiwan has indicated that it has no intention of seeking the return of a murder suspect under such legislation.

SAR officials have repeatedly stated that the law must be changed as soon as possible to allow one-off extraditions of crime suspects, so Chan Tong-kai, 20, can be sent back to Taiwan to face trial over the murder last year of his Hong Kong girlfriend.

But on Thursday, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said it would not be seeking Chan's surrender unless "the threat that Taiwanese people could be extradited to the mainland" is removed from Hong Kong's legislative bill.

Chung said that while he is not sure that the council's stance reflects the final decision of the Taiwanese government, if it does then the SAR government can take its time to study the issue in greater detail, instead of trying to get the amendments passed by Legco before the summer.

"If we have sufficient time I think we should sit down, talk more ... there are several ways of handling [the murder case]," Chung said, adding that the government should look into various counter-proposals from different sectors that could ease public concerns.

Hong Kong business leaders are among those who have expressed alarm over the extradition plans, with many critics saying they are particularly worried about people being surrendered to mainland authorities on trumped-up charges.