Hong Kong steps up pressure on Taiwan over five residents detained in reported asylum bid, as island’s premier offers help to anyone in need
- Security chief John Lee warns self-ruled island against ‘harbouring criminals’ and calls for their return
- Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang stresses his government cares about Hong Kong and its people
Hong Kong’s security chief has doubled down on his calls for Taiwan to hand over five detained residents who allegedly fled to the self-ruled island in an asylum bid, as its premier said his government hoped to offer substantial help to people in need.
Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu also revealed his side had yet to receive any information from Taiwanese authorities on the condition of the individuals.
“We did not receive any request for assistance from their families either,” he wrote on his official blog on Monday.
The group’s detention was confirmed on Sunday by Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency, which quoted an unidentified source.
The group was intercepted by the Taiwan Coast Guard at the end of July after their boat ran out of fuel and drifted towards the Pratas Islands, also known as the Dongsha Islands in Chinese, Taiwanese newspaper China Times reported late last month. The islands are controlled by Taipei but claimed by mainland China, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province.