Hong Konger Chan Tong-kai (陳同佳), who is suspected of murdering his girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing (潘曉穎), in Taiwan last year, was released from a Hong Kong prison on Wednesday after serving a short jail sentence on a money laundering charge related to his theft of Poon’s possessions.
The Hong Kong government wanted to force Chan to turn himself in to Taiwanese authorities, but Taipei’s response and its requests to the Hong Kong government were manipulated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), whipping up public opinion by accusing Taiwan’s government of allowing the murderer to remain at large.
Some even said that Taiwan’s decision would incite public discontent among Hong Kongers, but from what I have seen, there is no need for Taiwan’s government to be overly concerned.
As early as four months ago, Hong Kong politicians proposed a number of feasible and even “politically correct” solutions that could “save Beijing’s face.” Yet, the CCP-controlled Hong Kong government turned a blind eye to the proposals and instead pushed for the notorious extradition bill.
Hong Kongers have seen through their government, which — using Chan as a political tool and “rule of law” as an excuse — aims to suppress the territory’s democracy, human rights and freedoms, while seizing an opportunity to “molest” Taiwan.
Back then, the Hong Kong government refused to turn Chan over to the Taiwanese authorities, but now it plans to force Chan to go to Taiwan to turn himself in. The change in attitude has made Hong Kongers more aware of the political scheming done by the territory’s government and the CCP.
It would also occur to the Hong Kong public that setting this kind of precedent would be tantamount to bringing back the controversial extradition bill, and perhaps worse: After first being sentenced at home, Hong Kongers could then be forced to turn themselves over to another country.
The truth is that Hong Kongers are not making a choice between allowing Chan to get away unpunished and forcefully sending him to Taiwan to turn himself in. Rather, they cannot give up the rule of law simply because of Chan’s crime alone.
To put it plainly, the Hong Kong public generally agrees that Chan’s case should be handled according to the rule of law and institutional justice. Hong Kong people would never tolerate the Hong Kong government using Chan for political maneuvering.
The Hong Kong government has put on a show by claiming that Chan is a devout Christian. On the surface, there is nothing inappropriate about this, but the so-called “clergyman” who says he is praying for Chan’s determination to believe is Peter Koon (管浩鳴), who for years has used the Bible to make communists look good and who is a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
I am not questioning the sincerity of Chan’s faith, but given Koon’s background, it is possible that he is introducing a religious element to help Hong Kong officials smear any opposition to Chan deciding to turn himself in.
The urgent wish of the Hong Kong government to see Chan brought to justice is simply a matter of trying to escape blame for the chaos of the past four months and force Chan to take responsibility for the chaos that he started, while at the same time allowing the communists to continue to pursue their political goals for Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Fortunately, Hong Kongers are not as stupid as their government and the CCP think they are, and so their scheming has backfired. Their only choice is to continue to accuse Taiwan of giving free rein to a suspected murderer.
Again, Hong Kongers are not choosing between allowing Chan to remain at large or making him turn himself in. Instead, they are insisting that his crime should be dealt with according to the rule of law and institutional justice. Hopefully, the Taiwanese public will be able to understand what Hong Kongers have in mind rather than being duped and mislead by the KMT and the CCP.
Jackie Lim is a Hong Kong-based political commentator.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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