An employee at the UK’s consulate in Hong Kong has been detained by mainland Chinese authorities on his way back to the territory, his girlfriend has said.
Simon Cheng (鄭文傑), 28, was returning from a trip in Shenzhen to his native Hong Kong on Aug. 8 when his girlfriend, surnamed Lee, stopped receiving communications from him.
A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that it is “extremely concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen.”
“We are providing support to his family and seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong,” it said.
Lee said Cheng had messaged her just before he went silent.
“Ready to pass through the border ... pray for me,” Cheng had written.
More than 10 days later, Lee’s and Cheng’s family have not been able to get in touch with him.
Lee said Hong Kong immigration authorities told her Cheng had been placed under “administrative detention” in mainland China in an unknown location and for unknown reasons.
The detention of Cheng, who works in the British consulate as a trade and investment officer for Scottish Development International, comes amid more than two months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that have threatened Beijing’s authority over the territory.
Cheng’s detention was first reported by the Hong Kong news site HK01.
Lee said that Cheng regularly travels to the mainland for meetings and had gone there most recently for work.
The Hong Kong Immigration Department told Bloomberg News that the agency has reached out to the territory’s trade office in Guangdong seeking information about the case.
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong confirmed that it had received the request and said it would follow up with the agency.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) told a regular briefing yesterday in Beijing that he was not familiar with the reports on Cheng’s disappearance.
In response to questions on the matter, a Hong Kong Police Force spokesman said they were investigating a missing person report, but had not received any notification from the mainland authorities so far.
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