HONG KONG- The man whose arrest kicked off a string of violent opposition to a proposed “one-china extradition bill” roams the streets freely as public officials struggle to figure out what to do.
To Ian Ma, a Hong Konger residing in New York City, the thought of having a murderer roaming the streets in legal limbo as a result of policy issues is ridiculous. “Hong Kong lawmakers and the Taiwanese government dragging their feet isn’t doing anyone any favors.” he said in a November interview when asked what should be done about Chan Tong-kai who killed his girlfriend in Taiwan in February of 2018 and has yet to be arraigned on murder charges. “It is imperative that both sides come to an agreement so he can face justice.” Ma continued.
According to a South China Morning Post article written by Jasmine Siu in April 2019, despite Tong-kai’s admission of guilt, “…he was only charged with money laundering and has not been sent to Taiwan, despite requests from the island authorities, because there is no formal extradition agreement between the two places.” The lack of formal extradition agreements between Hong Kong and China, Macau and Taiwan has left Hong Kong politicians racking their brains for a solution that would satisfy the desires of Hong Kongers to be free from the mainland Chinese judiciary system. Calls by Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, to push through legislation to block a so-called “extradition loophole” have been met with violent opposition. “The gambit provoked one of Hong Kong’s largest protests in decades while also revitalizing the territory’s beleaguered pro-democracy opposition.” as stated by Daniel Victor and Tiffany May in a June 2019 article for the New York Times.
“It’s not that simple.” says Paul Lisovenko, a political science major at Hunter College in an October 2019 interview, “For Taiwan to accept an extradition under the one-china policy would be tantamount to them relinquishing their hard-won sovereignty.” The Taiwanese government agrees, according to a press release published by the MAC (Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council) in reference to a routine public opinion survey conducted in October of 2019, “The survey also showed that over 70% of the respondents support the government’s approach of enhancing Taiwan’s self-defenses, refusing the “one country, two systems model for Taiwan,” and safeguarding national sovereignty and Taiwan’s democracy (77.5%). More than 60% of the respondents approve the government’s actions taken to progressively improve the “security network for democracy” (62.1%).” Similar doubts about the one country, two systems model have permeated Hong Kong.“Pro-democracy protesters are angry about what they see as Beijing encroaching on Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” which allows the city wide-ranging freedoms not available on the mainland, such as an independent judiciary.” An article written by Twinnie Siu and Noah Sin in October of 2019 for Reuters stated, further demonstrating the political tension tearing Hong Kong apart and preventing Chan Tong-kai from seeing a trial in the near future. As battling political factions continue their debates on what the best course of action is for Hong Kong, Tong-kai will continue to roam the streets, a free man for now.
Although I have no prior knowledge about the Taiwenese government and the social injustices that are clearly being out there, it is so interesting to read about these experiences as an outsider. I remember coming across some of the Hong Kong social injustices last year and forming an opinion based on many of the first witness accounts that I read online. This was a great post, primarily because of your application of primary sources without a personal bias. Unfortunately, this story doesn’t necessarily have a conclusive ending to it, I hope that the social justice system in both Hong Kong and Taiwan starts to become more inclusive and representative of the changing world today. This was a great post and super interesting to read about, considering that I have no knowledge on this case.
Really, this post shows how there are unthought of repercussions to conflicts of that size and importance. Nothing good comes out of two unyielding sides in an endless conflict. It definitely is a shame that this situations can’t have a status of importance superior to the sovereignty struggle. I hope other cases like this one are more quickly solved in the future.
Really, this post shows how there are unthought of repercussions to conflicts of that size and importance. Nothing good comes out of two unyielding sides in an endless conflict. It definitely is a shame that this situations can’t have a status of importance superior to the sovereignty struggle. I hope other cases like this one are more quickly solved in the future..