China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) confirmed Tuesday that it will repatriate the suspect in a deadly Nov. 22 shooting in New Taipei back to Taiwan from Xiamen.
TAO spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang (???) said at a press event Chinese authorities had decided to send the suspect, surnamed Huang (?), back to Taiwan to safeguard the well-being of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and maintain order in cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges.
Ma, however, did not say whether the action was being taken in response to an extradition request from authorities in Taiwan.
While Ma did not provide the suspect’s full name it has been reported in local media as Huang Yung-chun (???). Huang is suspected of shooting a 45-year-old man, identified by his last name Ho (?), in the early hours of Nov. 22 in New Taipei’s Xindian District.
Ho, who had been shot twice in the neck, was later pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.
Hours after the incident, Huang left Taiwan for Xiamen, where he began a mandatory quarantine on arrival.
According to Xindian police, the motive for the shooting remains unknown and is still being investigated.
The TAO spokesperson said Xiamen authorities immediately launched an investigation after learning about the incident from Taiwanese media reports on Nov. 23.
Ma said Huang had confessed to the crime after he was interrogated by Chinese authorities while still in quarantine.
Taiwan and China signed an agreement on jointly fighting cross-strait crime and providing judicial assistance in 2009, and China has repatriated wanted criminals to Taiwan in the past based on this agreement.
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said it welcomed the decision made by TAO and hoped that both sides could continue to work together based on the agreement to fight crime and protect the rights and welfare of the people across the Taiwan Strait.
The MAC, which is in charge of cross-strait affairs, said it would cooperate with relevant authorities in China to expedite Huang’s repatriation.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel