Taiwan's manhunt for a lawmaker's money manager has exposed deep family and business roots in Beijing, raising fears he has already slipped across the strait.

• Chang Chun-chieh, the financial fixer for independent legislator Kao Chin Su-mei, cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and vanished, prompting a court to issue a warrant.
• He built decades of contacts in China through pro-unification groups and Indigenous exchange work, dealing with Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office and ethnic affairs bodies.
• His eldest daughter lives in Beijing, and her husband, twice-honored music producer Arai Soichi, has worked in the Chinese music industry for years — a ready network if he is hiding there.
• Prosecutors charged him in June with corruption, fraud and money laundering over roughly NT$15 million, seeking more than 16 years, and had warned he was a flight risk before the court granted bail anyway.

Outlook: Expect scrutiny of the court's decision to release him and of whether his China connections helped him escape.