Mainland asylum seeker Zhang Xiangzhong agrees to return home from Taiwan
Taipei says that as Zhang was free to leave and enter mainland, he did not qualify for long term residence on the island
Taiwan said yesterday that a mainland activist who tried to seek political asylum on the island had voluntarily returned home, ending a dilemma for Taiwanese authorities over how to deal with the case.
Zhang Xiangzhong, 48, from Shandong province, was released last year after spending three years in jail on the mainland for his involvement in the New Citizens’ Movement.
He left the island yesterday morning along with the tour group he had joined, Taiwanese authorities said.
“After we talked with Zhang and explained to him about the situation, he fully understood what we had told him and agreed to leave Taiwan along with his tour group at the end of their trip in line with the regulations stipulated by the cross-strait travel agreement,” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said.
The council, which is responsible for cross-strait matters, said that after carefully reviewing his case it determined Zhang did not meet the requirements for long-term residency in Taiwan.