A woman who fled to China after allegedly killing the passenger in a Seattle-area Porsche crash legally crossed the border en route to Vancouver International Airport, according to the Bellevue Police Department (BPD).
“I can confirm that, based on information we received from [Canada Border Services Agency], Ting Ye crossed into Canada Oct. 9 at 11 p.m. at the Surrey border crossing,” said Officer Seth Tyler, BPD’s acting public information officer.
Ye, 26, crashed a 2020 Porsche 911 at 3:45 a.m. on Sept. 30. Passenger Yabao Liu, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tyler said Ye crossed the border legally in a vehicle driven by an acquaintance at one of the two Surrey crossings. He said she flew out on Oct. 11 and, “at this time we do not believe any Canadian individuals assisted her with her escape.”
He indicated that police know her flight destination in China.
“We have no information to indicate she had accommodation in Canada. I do not believe that the flight information will be released as it would compromise our ongoing investigation,” Tyler said.
There is no extradition treaty between the U.S. or Canada and China.
A prosecutor’s vehicular homicide charge against Ye in Superior Court of Washington for King County was dated Oct. 6, but filed Oct. 9. The state requested $2-million bail and for Ye’s passport to be turned over to the court. But she left the hospital later that day.
Ye’s last known address was an apartment in the South Lake Union area of Seattle, a hub for major tech companies. She was to be arraigned Oct. 23, but did not appear in court. A warrant was issued for her arrest.
The court filing said Ye was exceeding 144 kilometres per hour and heading towards State Route 520 in downtown Bellevue early Sept. 30.
“She failed to maintain control of the car and crashed violently. The car went airborne striking several objects before landing upside down,” the document said.
“Responding police and firefighters smelled the strong odour of alcohol coming from the defendant’s breath every time she spoke. Because of her injuries, no other observations could be made. A search warrant to extract and test her blood was approved and executed three hours after the crash. Those results are pending with the toxicology laboratory.”
The 2020 Porsche 911 was worth $97,000 to $133,000 and Ye obtained a Washington State driver’s licence in 2021, but had no known history of criminal or traffic violations.
It is not the first time a Chinese national has fled from police through Vancouver International Airport.
In 2002, Simon Fraser University student Ang Li abruptly returned to China after reporting his girlfriend, Amanda Zhao, missing.
Zhao’s body was eventually found in a suitcase near Mission’s Stave Lake.
Rather than send him to Canada to face charges, the Chinese government agreed not to seek the death penalty. Li was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder in 2012. Upon appeal, that was downgraded in 2014 to seven years for manslaughter.
Li resurfaced earlier this year in a New Zealand Herald interview after the New Zealand government refused his refugee claim. Li had illegally entered the country in 2019 under an alias and began a family in Auckland. He denied he killed Zhao, claimed she was still alive, and said he fled to New Zealand to avoid Chinese Communist Party harassment.
Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan asked then-attorney general David Lametti to contact New Zealand counterparts to brief them about Li’s Canadian murder case. She said Li was both lying and lacking remorse.