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.
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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.
After Beijing’s confirmation on Wednesday, the family said in a statement that they still had not received any notification from mainland authorities about Cheng’s detention. They also did not know why he had been held.
The mainland’s public security administration regulations cover a wide range of minor offences, from disturbing public order to infringing property rights. Under mainland law, police can hold individuals suspected of minor offences under administrative detention for up to 15 days, but families must be notified in writing within 24 hours of detention.
The family said they had hired a mainland lawyer who spent days looking for Cheng in various detention centres across Shenzhen, but to no avail.
A staff member at the Shenzhen Luohu district detention centre initially told the lawyer Cheng was there, but later denied it, the family said.
“We cannot help but wonder whether the authorities are intentionally obstructing our lawyer from meeting [Cheng],” the statement said.
Cheng’s Taiwanese girlfriend, who would only be identified by her surname Li, said the lawyer was pessimistic about his chance of seeing Cheng.
“It’s pretty certain that Shenzhen police will not allow any lawyer to meet him,” the lawyer wrote in a message to Li. “Even if we can successfully lodge a complaint, the official reply won’t come any time sooner than August 23.”
Shenzhen’s public security bureau did not respond to a request for comment.
Hong Kong police said on Wednesday that they received a missing-person report about Cheng on August 9, but had not received any notification from mainland authorities.
Senior Superintendent Kelvin Kong Wing-cheung said that under a reciprocal notification mechanism, mainland authorities were required to notify the city’s police if any Hong Kong resident was criminally detained on the mainland. But the mechanism does not cover administrative detention.
On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of Hongkongers rallied outside the British consulate, calling on London to issue immediate travel warnings for Hong Kong and to mobilise all efforts to help Cheng. They also urged British authorities to demand the Hong Kong government withdraw the extradition bill officially.
Michael Mo Kwan-tai, one of the organisers of the rally and a friend of Cheng’s since 2017, said Cheng held a British National (Overseas) passport, a special document issued to Hong Kong residents before the 1997 handover. It does not grant them British citizenship, but entitles them to consular assistance outside China.
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Cheng’s detention could further complicate the already tense relations between Beijing and London, after months of anti-government protests in the former British colony.
The Hong Kong consulate did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The consulate and the British foreign office had said on Tuesday that they were “extremely concerned” by reports of Cheng’s detention and were providing support to his family.
Also on Wednesday, Geng, from the Chinese foreign ministry, said China had made stern representations to Britain for a series of comments and actions “recently made on Hong Kong”.
“We urge them to stop making irresponsible remarks, stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop pointing fingers and making accusations,” he said.
Earlier this month after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Dominic Raab, Britain’s new foreign secretary, called on China to respect peaceful protests.
A week later, Raab called Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and stressed the need for “meaningful political dialogue, and a fully independent investigation into recent events as a way to build trust” in the territory. Beijing has hit back on both cases.
Additional reporting by Teddy Ng
