There are no signs that the withdrawal of the bill will dampen the protests, now in their fifth month. ADADThe long-expected scrapping of the bill was overshadowed by the drama surrounding the release from a Hong Kong prison of the murder suspect at the heart of the extradition case controversy. ADThe controversy is rooted in the unwillingness of Hong Kong to recognize the legitimacy of the legal bodies in Taiwan, which communist leaders in Beijing consider a breakaway province. That appears to have compelled Hong Kong to reject cooperation with Taiwan over Taipei’s insistence on a “mutual legal assistance” deal with Hong Kong that would require their institutions to deal with each other on an equal basis. Tsai herself weighed in Wednesday on the Chan case, emphasizing that, although both the alleged perpetrator and the victim are from Hong Kong, Taiwan was willing to put Chan on trial if Hong Kong doesn’t.

Source: Washington Post October 23, 2019 03:39 UTC