China confirms detention of British consulate trade officer Simon Cheng Man-kit for 15 days
- Foreign ministry says Simon Cheng held over violation of public security management regulations
- Cheng’s family says they have not been notified by the mainland about the detention and do not know why he has been held
An employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong has been detained in mainland China for breaking the law, Beijing confirmed on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after the man disappeared returning to the city.
Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the consulate’s Scottish Development International section, was being held for 15 days under administrative detention in Shenzhen – a city that neighbours Hong Kong – for violating “public security management regulations”, the Chinese foreign ministry said, without giving further details of his alleged offences.
“I also want to stress that this worker is a Hong Kong citizen – not a British citizen – and he is Chinese. And this is entirely a matter of China’s internal affairs,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
Cheng, 28, travelled to Shenzhen from Hong Kong on the morning of August 8 for a business trip. According to his family, he disappeared that night while crossing the border back into Hong Kong.
Cheng’s detention came at the height of Hong Kong’s anti-government protests, which were triggered by an extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to be sent to the mainland’s Communist Party-controlled courts for trial. The bill has since been suspended.
