Fears for British consulate worker ‘held by China at Hong Kong border’

The Foreign Office today said it was “extremely concerned” at reports a staff member from the British consulate in Hong Kong has been detained by Chinese authorities.

Simon Cheng Man-kit, 28, has been missing since crossing the Chinese border on August 8 to attend a business event in Shenzhen.

He was due to return the same day by express rail link but never arrived. As he crossed back over the border on the train that evening, he is reported to have texted his Taiwanese girlfriend: “Pray for me”.

Mr Cheng, who is a trade and investment officer for Scottish Development International, is said to be a permanent Hong Kong resident who had studied in Taiwan and the UK before returning to the city. It is not known whether he has a diplomatic passport.

China carries out border controls at a joint checkpoint in the West Kowloon Terminus of the rail link in Hong Kong, although Chinese police told the Hong Kong Free Press there were no arrests at the station on August 8 or 9.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are 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.”

This weekend the New York Times reported that some rail passengers were being forced to hand over their phones and electronic devices for inspection by Chinese border guards as they entered the checkpoint.

Hong Kong’s immigration department has told Mr Cheng’s girlfriend he is under administrative detention in mainland China, but the reason and location were unknown, according to local reports. This can last up to 15 days.

It comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between China and the West over Beijing’s response to pro-democracy protests that have gripped the former British territory for months.

Today Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam, who is backed by the mainland Communist party, made a fresh bid to appease protesters who fear Beijing’s growing influence.

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But her offer of a “communication platform” was swiftly dismissed by demonstrators. Wong Yik-mo, vice convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, said she was “not responding at all” to demands, including universal suffrage.

Meanwhile Twitter has announced it will no longer accept advertising from “state-controlled news media entities,” after it and Facebook revealed details of a Chinese social media campaign seeking to undermine the protests.

The company said it had identified more than 900 accounts that “were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong”.

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