Young murder suspect’s transfer from Hong Kong to Taiwan may need special legal deal

City has no formal extradition treaty with the island, and experts are uncertain if an unprecedented legal arrangement can be reached to send student, 19, to Taipei after the decomposed body of his girlfriend was found there

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Police arrested the 19-year-old suspect in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:00pm, 14 Mar 2018Updated: 11:40pm, 14 Mar 2018

The arrest of a former college student in Hong Kong over the murder of his girlfriend in Taiwan may prompt an unprecedented legal arrangement to transfer the suspect in the absence of any formal extradition agreement between the two places, the Post has learned.

A source familiar with the matter said a provisional bill would have to be legislated locally, but legal experts expressed scepticism at the possibility. Critics pointed out that if this could be done, other fugitives, including tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung, convicted in a bribery trial in Macau, would not be a free man in Hong Kong.

The uncertainty over the case began on Tuesday when it emerged that a 19-year-old former associate degree student, surnamed Chan, was suspected of killing his girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing, 20, while on a Taiwan trip in February. Chan returned to Hong Kong alone.

Poon Hiu-wing (right) went to Taiwan with her boyfriend. Photo: Facebook

On Wednesday night, a spokesman from Hong Kong’s Security Bureau said police were actively investigating the case, adding that the bureau would study how to handle the situation under the existing legal framework.

On the same evening, Hong Kong police charged Chan with two counts of theft and one count of handling stolen goods. He will appear in Kwun Tong Court on Thursday. He was arrested in Hong Kong a day earlier on suspicion of using the victim’s bank card to withdraw money from a local cash machine.