Taiwan will not allow Chan Tong-kai to come and go like an individual traveler, Premier Su Tseng-chang says as he insists that Hong Kong and Taiwan should first negotiate the murder suspect's surrender.
But the Security Bureau said last night Chan has served his sentence in Hong Kong and is now a free man under the law so the government does not have any legal right to intervene with his decision on surrendering in Taiwan.
If Chan receives Taiwan's permission to enter, Hong Kong and Taiwan police can together arrange his schedule, it added.
"The government has always held a pragmatic attitude when dealing with this case. We hope Chan Tong-kai will surrender as soon as possible and we hope Taiwan can also use a pragmatic attitude to solve this incident as soon as possible," the bureau said.
Chan, 22, is wanted by Taipei for allegedly killing his pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing, during a holiday on the island more than two years ago.
Su said he will not let Chan visit Taiwan on an "independent tour," adding authorities will act in accordance with the law.
"A Hongkonger murdered a Hongkonger and if the murderer is in Hong Kong, Hong Kong should deal with it appropriately. If Hong Kong needs further information, Taiwan will provide it," Su said.
"Taiwan will not allow murderers to be in and out of a place freely. The Hong Kong government does not need to push around."
Reverend Peter Koon Ho-ming, who has been assisting Chan since his release from a Hong Kong jail last October after serving a 29-month prison term for money laundering, said the young man's Taiwan legal representatives are expected to meet with the island's legal authority yesterday to arrange for the surrender.
But Taiwan Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung said he has yet to receive any information regarding Chan's surrender.
The Hong Kong government "did not contact us and has only spoken to the media. In such a way we are unable to make a reply. It is meaningless to us," Hsu said.
The commissioner of Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, Huang Ming-chao, said it has not received any formal message through the "single-window" liaison point between Hong Kong and Taiwan police force.
Koon said he hopes the public can give them a few days to deal with the surrender arrangement.
Taiwan's National Immigration Agency told RTHK that it has marked Chan as someone who cannot apply for a visa online but is still allowed to enter Taiwan.
If Chan contacts the "single-window" liaison point for his surrender, the agency will cooperate with the Mainland Affairs Council and other relevant legal departments to handle his immigration procedures, it added.
