Mother of Hong Kong murder victim at centre of extradition bill case renews call for Carrie Lam to send suspect to Taiwan for trial
- Amber Poon tells Lam ‘at least all Hongkongers and history will remember that you have the heart to solve problems before you leave office’
- Confessed killer Chan Tong-kai has remained in city for more than two years after serving jail time for money laundering
The mother of a murder victim whose case sparked widespread protests in Hong Kong against an extradition bill has renewed calls for the city’s outgoing leader to send the suspected killer to Taiwan for trial before she leaves office next month.
But lawmaker Reverend Canon Peter Koon Ho-ming, an Anglican priest who has been assisting suspect Chan Tong-kai, pointed to the coronavirus pandemic for the 2½-year deadlock over the case, saying governments on both sides might be “unmotivated” to explore a breakthrough.
In an open message to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Thursday, Amber Poon Hiu-wing’s mother appealed to Lam to seek justice for her daughter, who was 19 and pregnant when she was allegedly killed in Taipei by boyfriend Chan in February 2018.
“This is the fifth year that my daughter did not celebrate Mother’s Day with me and my family. I am deeply grieved when looking at the past,” Poon told Lam.
“As you are leaving your post soon, I hope you can do one good thing – resolve the case involving cold-blooded Chan Tong-kai as soon as possible by sending him to the place where the incident happened for trial,” she said. “At least all Hongkongers and history will remember that you have the heart to solve problems before you leave office.”
Chan is wanted on the self-ruled island for murder. Aged 20 at the time, he returned to Hong Kong after Poon’s death and was jailed for money-laundering offences.
He begged for public forgiveness upon his release from his 29-month imprisonment in October 2019, but could not be sent back to face murder charges because of the lack of an extradition deal between the two jurisdictions.
The case led Lam to propose amendments to a controversial bill that would also allow the transfer of fugitives to mainland China, sparking protests by residents over their freedoms, with the movement later morphing into a months-long anti-government campaign.
Now a lawmaker, Koon, an outspoken priest who regularly visited Chan behind bars, sought patience, saying closed borders across the Taiwan Strait and amid the pandemic had complicated matters.
“The global Covid-19 situation may have made the two governments unmotivated to explore breakthroughs … The dynamic may change after that.”
Taiwan and Hong Kong have not been able to agree on how to move forward with Chan’s surrender and he has been living “somewhere remote” in the city.
The Post has approached the Chief Executive’s Office for a response. Lam had said there was little the government could do as Chan, now “a free man”, had paid his debt to Hong Kong society.
Poon’s mother has made various tearful attempts, including one last October at the government offices when she asked Chan to meet her and surrender himself to Taiwan authorities via a telephone call.
Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu, who played a key role in the extradition bill crisis in 2019 as security minister, will succeed Lam on July 1.
A month before he was voted into the top post, he had pointed to Taiwanese authorities’ unwillingness to accept Chan’s voluntary surrender.
“We should question why the Taiwanese authorities do not accept a fugitive willing to surrender himself. Justice has to be served and please do not politicise the issue,” Lee said.
