Murder suspect linked to HK extradition protests plans to surrender

The murder suspect whose extradition case led toreform plans that sparked months of anti-government protests in HongKong has said he will voluntarily surrender to Taiwanese authorities,according to the Hong Kong government. The suspect, Chan Tong-kai, told Hong Kong's Chief Executive CarrieLam in a letter that he is willing to travel to Taiwan where he iswanted on suspicion of murdering his pregnant girlfriend while onholiday, the government said late Friday.  The absence of an extradition agreement between Hong Kong and Taiwanhas meant that Chan has only served a short sentence in a localprison for stealing his girlfriend's property and is due to bereleased next week.  The case inspired Lam to attempt to reform the city's extraditionlaws in the spring.The changes would also have affected Hong Kong's extraditionprocedures with mainland China, however, and sparked massdemonstrations over fears about Beijing exerting more central controlover the city and damaging its special status. Hong Kong has a vastly different legal system and human rights recordfrom mainland China. When Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinesesovereignty in 1997, it was promised semi-autonomy until 2047 under"the one country, two systems agreement."Now in their fifth month, protesters' demands have escalated beyondscrapping the original extradition bill, which was formally withdrawnby Lam in September.They have become a city-wide anti-government movement with furtherdemonstrations planned for Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.