Chan Tong-kai, who admitted in court proceedings to killing his girlfriend in 2018 while on a vacation in Taiwan, was set free from a Hong Kong jail today and bowed.

His case has sparked months of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong after the local government tried to introduce deeply unpopular extradition legislation as a result of his case.

Chan apologised for the “irreversible mistake” he made and for the pain he caused the victim’s family and the people of Hong Kong.

“I am willing to return to Taiwan to face sentence and trial for my recklessness and mistake I made,” Chan told reporters.

Chan has said he’s willing to surrender himself to Taiwanese authorities to face justice.

Yet the political ambiguity of diplomatic relations between Hong Kong and Taiwan – as well as the animosity of their current set of political leaders – has resulted in a confusing, drawn out process of bickering over jurisdiction, sovereignty and legal technicalities.

The back-and-forth between authorities in Taipei and the financial hub continued overnight, even as Chan was set to be released from a Hong Kong jail.

After both sides accused the other of politicising the case for their own gain, Taiwan said yesterday that it would send personnel to Hong Kong today with the aim of retrieving Chan and bringing him back to the island to face justice.

In a late night statement, however, Hong Kong’s government wrote that Taiwan sending law enforcement officers to its territory showed “disrespect for Hong Kong’s jurisdictional power and is totally unacceptable.”

At the same time, Hong Kong seemed to leave open the possibility that Chan could simply go to Taiwan of his own free will.

“As he will be a free man after released from jail, the HKSAR Government has no authority to impose any restrictive measures on him,” the government said, using the formal name for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

“He could go to Taiwan accompanied by persons of his choice. Upon arrival, the authority of Taiwan can arrest him.”