Taiwan-HK spat raises doubts about murder suspect’s surrender

Bloomberg

The man at the centre of a Taiwan murder case that sparked months of violent protests in Hong Kong wants to turn himself in. But first Hong Kong and Taiwan must stop feuding over how that happens.
Officials in Taipei have accused Hong Kong of playing politics by trying to get rid of a man accused of murdering his friend while on a vacation in Taiwan — a case that led Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to introduce deeply unpopular extradition legislation.
Taiwan said the two sides need to discuss how they’ll cooperate on the prosecution before they accept him.
At the same time, Lam’s Beijing-backed government said that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party favours independence from China, hasn’t responded to suggestions on how they can cooperate. The city said their police investigation did not find sufficient evidence to prosecute a murder charge and that the suspect’s decision to surrender to Taiwan should solve the thorny legal issue of his extradition.
A Hong Kong court should issue a formal statement saying it didn’t have sufficient evidence, Tsai Ching-hsiang, Taiwan’s Minister of Justice, said at a press briefing in Taipei on Monday. He added that Taiwan will arrest Chan if he returns.
The dueling statements follow a letter from Chan Tong-kai, in which he outlined his willingness to return to the island after his release from a Hong Kong jail on a related money-laundering charge. The case sits at the centre of a complex dispute that has sparked four months of unrest and a broader geopolitical battle that has embroiled Beijing and Washington.