bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Clifford Lo

More than 80 radical protesters suspected of hurling petrol bombs during anti-government demonstrations, storming the city’s legislature and physically attacking ideological opponents, have fled Hong Kong to Taiwan, police sources have told the Post.
Police realised they had escaped when officers went to their homes to arrest them after establishing their identities.
“Most are in their 20s and 30s and unemployed. Only a few are students,” one source said.
As there was no extradition agreement between Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, there was nothing more police could do.
“They have been placed on the list of people wanted by police, and they will face arrest if they return to the city,” he said.

Hong Kong has experienced more than seven months of protests sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, which would have allowed the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong does not have existing agreements, including Taiwan and mainland China.
More than 7,000 people have been arrested since June for various protest-related offences, including rioting, possessing explosives and firearms without a licence, and arson.
The sources said police had established that about 220 protesters who feared arrest for their actions had gone to Taiwan.
Of that total, only between 80 and 90 are wanted in connection with alleged acts of violence.
“The rest of the 220 radicals are not wanted by police, because officers have no evidence to show they were involved in violence,” he said. “They learned that some of their friends had been arrested and feared they would be next, so that they chose to escape.”
It is understood that among those in Taiwan wanted by police are several suspects who were present during a horrific incident last November, when a 57-year-old man was doused with a flammable solution and set alight along a footbridge in Ma On Shan.

More than 20 others in Taiwan have been identified as being among the hundreds who stormed and vandalised the city’s legislature last July 1.
Officers collected thousands of pieces of evidence from the trashed Legco complex, but managed to identify only a few dozen radicals.
“Police identified them because they left fingerprints in the Legislative Council building,” the source said, adding that most of the protesters present could not be identified, because they wore masks, gloves and helmets.
So far, fewer than 20 have been arrested in connection with the storming of Legco.
The source said the rest of the radicals in Taiwan wanted by police include those who took the law into their own hands and attacked opponents as well as those who hurled petrol bombs and bricks at police or vandalised shops and MTR stations.
Hong Kong protesters in Taipei celebrate Tsai Ing-wen’s election victory
He refused to say if those in Taiwan include members of a group accused of plotting to use explosives and firearms against police officers in anti-government rallies in December.
Between December 8 and January 17, police seized an AR-15 assault rifle, four pistols and hundreds of bullets. Two home-made bombs were also found on the grounds of a Wan Chai school in December.
The sources said the radicals retreated to Taiwan knowing there is no extradition arrangement, and they have been granted extended tourist visas to stay on the self-ruled island.
Earlier this month, a 21-year-old student who fled to Taiwan after storming Legco last July said he feared he might have to move to Europe or the United States if president Tsai Ing-wen failed in her re-election bid.
After she won, the student told the Post : “Now, I feel relieved and more certain about the future. I hope I can focus on finishing my degree here.”
Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party have said repeatedly they will do all they can to help Hong Kong protesters seeking shelter in Taiwan.
In December, she said there was no need for Taiwan to institute a refugee law, as existing regulations governing the island’s relations with Hong Kong and Macau were sufficient.


Western media criticism of the Jimmy Lai case verdict needs a fact check

Jimmy Lai trial shows Hong Kong’s rule of law remains robust

‘Soft resistance’ among 4 main national security threats to Hong Kong: Chris Tang

Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai may complete non-national security jail terms by June: prosecutor

Hong Kong protests

More than 80 radical protesters wanted by Hong Kong police have taken refuge beyond their reach in Taiwan

Hong Kong anti-government protesters attend a rally for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen after her election victory in Taipei. Photo: Reuters

Police fire tear gas to anti-government protestors during clashes in Mong Kok. 27OCT19 SCMP / Sam Tsang

Clashes break out between riot police and students at the junction of Austin Road and Chatham Road South, near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hung Hom, as tear gas and petrol bombs are exchanged. 17NOV19 SCMP / Sam Tsang

The Taiwanese sending protest equipment, messages of solidarity to Hong Kong demonstrators

Hong Kong's anti-government protesters attend a rally held by incumbent Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen after her election victory on January 11. Photo: Reuters

Kong Chao-ksun, a core volunteer of the Chi-Nan Presbyterian Church in Taipei. SCMP/ Kimmy Chung

Liu Gi and his wife Luk Wing-yu, a poet from Hong Kong, put up donation boxes for Hong Kong protesters in their shop. SCMP/ Kimmy Chung

Hong Kong protests: tear gas fired for second night in row in Mong Kok as radicals block roads and ‘assault passers-by’

Riot police were called out for two nights in a row in Mong Kok. Photo: Edmond So

Riot police raise a black flag and deploy tear gas at Arygle Street near Langham Place in Mong Kok on Saturday January 25, 2020. Photo: RTHK

Hong Kong police arrest four for ‘supporting role’ in alleged plot to build remote-controlled bomb

Hong Kong police said they foiled a bomb plot in Tuen Mun last month. Photo: Winson Wong

Tuen Mun Law Courts Building located on Tuen Hi Road in Tuen Mun. 19MAY15

Hong Kong police search for six people believed to have set fire outside Lai Chi Kok government offices after petrol bombs found at the scene

Police were uncertain whether this case was related to the ongoing anti-government protests in Hong Kong. Photo: Warton Li

Image of Lai Chi Kok Government Offices. HANDOUT PHOTO

News

Hong Kong

Politics

Law and Crime


With no extradition arrangement, nothing can be done to bring them back to face charges
About 220 fearing arrest for protest violence fled Hong Kong for refuge in Taiwan



With no extradition arrangement, nothing can be done to bring them back to face charges.


Hong Kong police

Taiwan

Hong Kong extradition bill

More than 80 radical protesters wanted by Hong Kong police have taken refuge beyond their reach in Taiwan

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} With no extradition arrangement, nothing can be done to bring them back to face charges About 220 fearing arrest for protest violence fled Hong Kong for refuge in Taiwan

With no extradition arrangement, nothing can be done to bring them back to face charges

About 220 fearing arrest for protest violence fled Hong Kong for refuge in Taiwan