Employee of Britain's Hong Kong mission held in China released: police

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - An employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong who was detained in China's border city of Shenzhen amid accusations of outside interference in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong was released on Saturday, Chinese police said.

Simon Cheng was detained for 15 days for violating public security management regulations, police in Shenzhen's Luohu district said on their Twitter-like Weibo account.

Police said Cheng was released as scheduled on Saturday and that his legal rights and interests had been observed. They also said Cheng had confessed to the accusations against him.

(Reporting by the Reuters China bureau; Editing by Paul Tait)