Interpretation of the ending

Like everyone else I love Hard boiled as an action movie but I also like the depth of Tony Leung's character. The ending suggests that he sacrifices himself, but IMO the last scene on the boat is open to symbolic interpretation. We know that John Woo puts a lot of religious symbolic in his movies. For me the way Tony gets rid of his paper cranes is a sort of redemption on his way to the Beyond, as if he expiated his sins.

But on the other hand one could argue that Tony actually survived and got his file destroyed by the police in order to start a new life. I've always been puzzled by the fact that he wears bandages in this scene, as if he recovered from the shootout.

What's your take on this?