Hong Kong Frees Murder Suspect Whose Case Led to Protests – The New York Times

A Political Issue in Taiwan

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan said she hoped Hong Kong would look for ways to prosecute Mr. Chan itself, or provide all necessary evidence and cooperation should he be sent to Taiwan.

“Hong Kong people travel all over, go to every country around the world,” Ms. Tsai said while campaigning for re-election on Tuesday. “If things happen in other countries and the Hong Kong government takes this attitude, then this will cause headaches and those governments will feel the Hong Kong government is not very responsible.”

Han Kuo-yu, the presidential candidate of Taiwan’s opposition party, the Kuomintang, criticized the stance of Ms. Tsai’s government, saying the result would be “too horrible to contemplate” if Mr. Chan were not allowed to surrender to the Taiwan authorities.

Any person from a country that Taiwan does not have an extradition agreement with could “come to Taiwan, kill people, light fires and run away,” Mr. Han said. “Does this mean it is all fine?”

Early Wednesday, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said it had asked to send officers to Hong Kong to escort Mr. Chan. But the Hong Kong government said it saw that request as “cross-jurisdiction law enforcement, which is a disrespect for Hong Kong’s jurisdictional power and is totally unacceptable.”

James To, a Hong Kong lawmaker who recently visited Taiwan for informal discussions about the case, said on Tuesday that Taiwan officials had reason to be suspicious.

“If you step in the shoes of Taiwan authorities, Hong Kong police have not cooperated with them, they have not delivered any evidence to them, has not informed them of your investigation and detailed evidence gathered through Hong Kong operations,” he said. “How can the other side, the Taiwan side, trust you?

Ezra Cheung and Tiffany May contributed reporting.