Priest involved in case says he may advise Chan Tong-kai to wait until after Taiwan elections in January

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/25
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the legal and political controversy around the now-released murder

suspect Chan Tong-kai continues to escalate, a key figure in the unfolding drama has stated that Chan may be advised to wait several months before planning his return Taiwan to face justice.

The priest who allegedly persuaded Chan to return to Taiwan, Peter Douglas Koon (管浩鳴) of the Hong Kong Anglican Church, was quoted on Friday (Oct. 25) saying that he may consider delaying Chan’s return to Taiwan until after the country has concluded its presidential election on Jan. 11. Koon claims that Chan is worried he may not receive a fair trial in Taiwan and says they are both concerned about how politicized the case has become.

It was revealed this week that Koon is a member of China’s National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPCC), raising suspicions that he may be working on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to persuade Chan to voluntarily return to Taiwan. Koon’s comments, as reported by UDN, come as the breakdown in legal cooperation between Taipei and Hong Kong, along with the Tsai government’s response to Chan’s potential surrender, have sparked nationwide debate in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]