Topline: Britain has expressed concern over media reports that an employee at its consulate in Hong Kong has been detained in mainland China after visiting Shenzhen on August 8.
• Fears were raised after Simon Cheng, 28, failed to turn up to work on August 9. He was due to return from a business meeting in Shenzhen the day before, according to Hong Kong news site HK01. On the night of his planned return, he told his girlfriend over the phone that he was on the train back, before he lost connection.
• A representative from Britain’s consulate in Hong Kong 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 and Hong Kong.”
• Cheng, a trade and investment officer who worked in the consulate's Scottish International Development department, has since been reported missing. Cheng’s girlfriend and family believe he has been detained by the Chinese authorities.
• Hong Kong Police said at a press conference on Tuesday it had not been notified by mainland officials over the detention of Cheng.
• Hong Kong’s immigration department confirmed to Reuters that it had received a request for assistance from one of Cheng’s family members, and it said it was assisting the family.

Key background: The disappearance of Simon Cheng cuts to the core of the political crisis that has gripped Hong Kong for the last three months. Millions of Hong Kongers have taken to the streets over the last 11 weeks to voice their opposition to the city government's now-suspended plan to create an extradition bill with mainland China.

Opposition and business leaders in the semi-autonomous Chinese city voiced concerns about the rule of law in China, and the use of "black jails" and the forced disappearances of dissident voices by mainland authorities.

The disappearance of Cheng, a trade official, with the British Consulate in Hong Kong follows reports police at the mainland border were checking travellers' phones for evidence of involvement in the protest movement. Chinese officials and state-media have sabre-rattled for weeks over British and U.S. politicians, including President Donald Trump, speaking out over police crackdowns over the protesters that have broadened to include calls for free elections, and protections of civil liberties guaranteed following the handover of the former British colony in 1997. </s> BEIJING (AP) — The British foreign ministry said it is “extremely concerned” about an employee of its consulate in Hong Kong who has been missing since crossing into China on a business trip.

A statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it is seeking information from Hong Kong and Guangdong province about the fate of the employee, who was detained while crossing from the Chinese city of Shenzhen into Hong Kong.

Local media reports identified him as Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the Scottish Development International section of the consulate. The reports say he attended a business event in Shenzhen on Aug. 8 but never returned to Hong Kong despite plans to do so the same day.

“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,” said the statement, which was forwarded by the British Embassy in Beijing.

It is unclear whether the man possessed a diplomatic passport, but the seizure of consular staff of any status or rank is highly unusual. Despite Beijing’s declaration of a “golden era” in Sino-British ties, relations have grown tense in recent months amid pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, a British colony for 156 years before its handover to Chinese rule in 1997.

Asked about the case at a daily briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang responded, “I’m not aware of that.”

Press officers for the Guangdong police and Ministry of Public Security could not be reached by phone. The ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions about the case. </s> The British Foreign Office on Tuesday said it was “extremely concerned” by reports that trade and investment officer Simon Cheng Man-kit of the Hong Kong office has been detained by Communist China while traveling to the mainland for a business event. Cheng was listed as a “missing person” for over a week before there was any official confirmation he was in custody. The Chinese government has not explained why he was arrested.

Cheng, 28, disappeared 12 days ago while returning from a business trip to Shenzhen, the tech-hub mainland city closest to Hong Kong. Shenzhen is the city where China has been massing ominous police and paramilitary forces to signal Hong Kong protesters that Beijing’s patience is not without limits. The latest dark messaging from the Chinese Communist Party is that Shenzhen might replace Hong Kong as China’s business gateway to the outside world if Hong Kong proves itself to be ungovernable.

Cheng planned to return home to Hong Kong by train immediately after attending the conference in Shenzhen on August 8, as chronicled by the Hong Kong Free Press:

At 10:37pm on the day he left Hong Kong, Cheng told his Taiwanese girlfriend that he was on a high-speed rail train to return to Hong Kong, “ready to pass through the boarder [sic],” according to a screenshot. “Pray for me,” Cheng told his girlfriend in a message. The Express Rail Link has an arrangement in which border checks are not conducted in the mainland but at a joint checkpoint at the underground levels of the West Kowloon Terminus. Cheng could have been detained at the joint checkpoint, which is considered Chinese territory. Cheng did not return to work on August 9. According to his girlfriend, the British Consulate-General told Cheng’s family members to report the case to the police after they met with Nicola Barrett, a consul at the consulate. There were no arrests made at the mainland Chinese police station of the West Kowloon Terminus on August 8 and 9, an officer of the station told HK01 in a phone call. Cheng’s girlfriend said a unit at the Immigration Department, which provides assistance to Hong Kong residents outside of Hong Kong, told her on August 10 that Cheng was under administrative detention in mainland China, but the reason and location of his detention were unknown.

The West Kowloon Terminus of the Hong Kong rail station was one of the biggest controversies in the city before the attempt to pass a new extradition law cause the current protest movement to erupt. Part of the terminus was essentially classified as Chinese soil, governed by mainland law instead of Hong Kong’s special autonomous laws, for the stated purpose of making rail travel to Shenzhen easier. The idea was that travelers could pass through border security and “enter” China without leaving the rail station, rather than going through a cumbersome customs check when their train actually crossed over the Hong Kong border.

Critics said the terminus arrangement compromised Hong Kong’s autonomy and could make it easier for mainland police to arrest people from Hong Kong and drag them back to China. One reason protests against a proposed extradition bill broke out was that critics feared China would use easier extradition procedures to grab people from Hong Kong and “disappear” them into the opaque and politicized mainland judicial system.

The British Foreign Office said on Tuesday it was “seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong” about Cheng’s whereabouts and condition.

“We are extremely concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen,” the Foreign Office said.

Cheng works for the Scottish Development International department of the British consulate. The Scottish government is reportedly working with the Foreign Office on his case.

The South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday that a lawyer on the Chinese mainland hired by Cheng’s family “could not find any record of him in any detention center in Shenzhen or Guangzhou.” The family has been told only that Cheng is being held under “administrative detention” rules, which nominally require Chinese authorities to launch a formal criminal investigation no later than August 23.

“At first I didn’t want his case to go public because I was worried exposure would further jeopardise him, but now I really don’t know what else I can do,” Cheng’s girlfriend, identified only by her surname “Li,” told the SCMP.

Li said the family’s encounters with the authorities were frustrating, as Cheng’s employers seemed reluctant to get involved with the case and would not help the family hire mainland legal assistance because Cheng was supposedly “off-duty” when he disappeared. Hong Kong officials refused to tell the family which arm of the mainland Chinese government arrested him.

Li told the SCMP she and Cheng did not attend any Hong Kong protests together, but she allowed for the possibility he attended one without her, or might have interacted with the protest movement online.

The BBC quoted travelers who spoke of disturbing Chinese behavior on the Hong Kong border, including intrusive security checks and searches of personal electronics for material relating to the Hong Kong protest movement. One traveler from Hong Kong said Chinese police forced her to delete a hundred photos of the protests from her phone before she was allowed to cross the border.

“My observation is that they check two people out of three. The situation is quite severe. None of my friends want to go to mainland China now,” she said, a sentiment that might grow more intense if the disappearance of Simon Cheng Man-kit blows up into a major international incident. </s> BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Britain’s foreign office said it was seeking more information about reports that a Hong Kong staff member had been detained in mainland China.

“We are concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained while returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen,” a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson in Beijing said in an emailed statement.

“We are providing support to their family and seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong.”

Simon Cheng, an employee at the U.K. consulate in Hong Kong, did not return to work on August 9 after visiting Shenzhen the previous day, Hong Kong news website HK01 reported, citing an interview with his girlfriend.

The U.K consulate in Hong Kong did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — The Latest on Hong Kong's protests (all times local):

The British foreign ministry says it is "extremely concerned" about an employee of its Hong Kong consulate missing since crossing into China on a business trip.

A statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was seeking information from Hong Kong and Guangdong province about the fate of the employee who was detained while crossing from the Chinese city of Shenzhen into Hong Kong.

Local media identified him as Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the Scottish Development International section of the consulate, who attended a business event in Shenzhen on Aug. 8. They say he never returned to Hong Kong despite plans to do so the same day via the high speed rail link Express Rail Link.

Chinese authorities had no immediate comment Tuesday on the statement.

Hong Kong protest organizers have rejected the city leader's plan to set up a platform for dialogue, calling it a trap that is aimed at wasting time.

Members of the Civil Human Rights Front on Tuesday were responding to Chief Executive Carrie Lam's announcement that she is immediately setting up a "communication platform" to resolve differences to end the protests.

The group's vice-convenor, Wong Yik-mo, said Lam is "not responding at all" to the protest movement's demands, including genuine democracy, her resignation and an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality.

He said, "We do not trust Carrie Lam, we do not trust her lies."

Jimmy Sham, another member, suggest that if Lam wants dialogue, she should come to a protest.

The Civil Human Rights Front has organized several mass anti-government rallies that have attracted huge crowds in recent months, while many other groups that have joined the leaderless movement have held their own events.

Hong Kong's leader says she's setting up a "communication platform" to resolve differences in the city after months of anti-government protests.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam also said Tuesday a fact-finding study will look at the causes of the protests and the police response to them.

The movement held a massive but peaceful rally on Sunday after earlier protests had been marked by violence. Lam and other officials have conditioned dialogue on the protest movement remaining peaceful.

Lam's comments fell short of the protesters demands, including for her resignation and an independent inquiry into what they say was police brutality. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — The Latest on Hong Kong's protests (all times local):

The British foreign ministry says it is "extremely concerned" about an employee of its Hong Kong consulate missing since crossing into China on a business trip.

A statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was seeking information from Hong Kong and Guangdong province about the fate of the employee who was detained while crossing from the Chinese city of Shenzhen into Hong Kong.

Local media identified him as Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the Scottish Development International section of the consulate, who attended a business event in Shenzhen on Aug. 8. They say he never returned to Hong Kong despite plans to do so the same day via the high speed rail link Express Rail Link.

Chinese authorities had no immediate comment Tuesday on the statement.

Hong Kong protest organizers have rejected the city leader's plan to set up a platform for dialogue, calling it a trap that is aimed at wasting time.

Members of the Civil Human Rights Front on Tuesday were responding to Chief Executive Carrie Lam's announcement that she is immediately setting up a "communication platform" to resolve differences to end the protests.

The group's vice-convenor, Wong Yik-mo, said Lam is "not responding at all" to the protest movement's demands, including genuine democracy and an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality.

He said, "We do not trust Carrie Lam, we do not trust her lies."

Jimmy Sham, another member, suggest that if Lam wants dialogue, she should come to a protest.

The Civil Human Rights Front has organized several mass anti-government rallies that have attracted huge crowds in recent months, while many other groups that have joined the leaderless movement have held their own events.

This story has been corrected in the 2:30 p.m. entry to say the protest movement is not calling for Lam's resignation.

Hong Kong's leader says she's setting up a "communication platform" to resolve differences in the city after months of anti-government protests.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam also said Tuesday a fact-finding study will look at the causes of the protests and the police response to them.

The movement held a massive but peaceful rally on Sunday after earlier protests had been marked by violence. Lam and other officials have conditioned dialogue on the protest movement remaining peaceful.

Lam's comments fell short of the protesters demands, including for her resignation and an independent inquiry into what they say was police brutality. </s> Hong Kong: Britain's Foreign Office said Tuesday it was "extremely concerned" by reports that a Hong Kong consulate employee had been detained by mainland Chinese authorities on his way back to the city.

The Hong Kong consulate refused to confirm the man's name or further details of the apparent incident.

But reports in local news outlet HK01 said the consulate employee had failed to return after travelling to Shenzhen in Guangdong province, an hour outside Hong Kong, for a one-day business meeting on August 8.

"We are extremely concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen," a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said in a statement.

"We are providing support to his family and seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong," it added.

The incident comes as the financial hub is facing its worst political crisis in decades.

Pro-democracy protesters have staged weeks of rallies that have often descended into violent clashes between police and protesters.

The demonstrations were triggered by a controversial extradition law but have broadened into a call for wider democratic reforms.

China had promised to respect the freedoms in the semi-autonomous territory after its handover from Britain in 1997.

Hong Kong enjoys liberties unseen on the mainland, including freedom of speech, unfettered access to the internet and an independent judiciary. </s> In this image made from video, armed police vehicles are parked outside Shenzhen Bay Stadium in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, Friday, Aug. 16, 2019. Satellite photos show what appear to be armored personnel carriers and other vehicles belonging to the China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police parked in a sports complex in the city of Shenzhen, in what some have interpreted as a threat from Beijing to use increased force against pro-democracy protesters across the border in Hong Kong.(AP Photo/Dake Kang)

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Members of China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police marched and practiced crowd control tactics at a sports complex in Shenzhen across from Hong Kong in what some interpreted as a threat against pro-democracy protesters in the semi-autonomous territory.

The sound of marching boots and synchronized shouts echoed from the grounds on Friday. Officers in green camouflage stood guard at closed entrances. A stadium security guard said “it wasn’t clear” when the paramilitary police would leave the grounds.

Chinese state media have only said that the Shenzhen exercises were planned earlier and were not directly related to the unrest in Hong Kong, though they came shortly after the central government in Beijing said the protests were beginning to show the “sprouts of terrorism.”

From a distance, police could be seen conducting drills in military fatigues, using shields, poles and other riot-control gear. In one exercise, two groups marched in formation with those in front raising shields as if to protect themselves from projectiles. Others behind held red flags and banners. The words “the law” and “prosecuted” could be seen on one.

Outside, dozens of armored carriers and trucks sat in the parking lot of the Shenzhen Bay Stadium, close to a bridge linking mainland China to Hong Kong.

Asked if Hong Kong police could maintain order or if mainland Chinese intervention is becoming inevitable, Hong Kong police commander Yeung Man-pun said that while they face tremendous pressure, “I can tell you we’re confident the police have the capability to maintain law and order.”

Germany, meanwhile, said it considers China to be a responsible actor that will respect Hong Kong laws guaranteeing freedom of speech and rule of law.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that Hong Kong’s 1997 Basic Law, under which the city was promised a high degree of autonomy when the former British colony returned to China, “is a Chinese law, and as such we naturally expect that the People’s Republic of China, too, won’t call into question the peaceful exercise of these rights.”

Weeks of protests in Hong Kong have been marked by increasing violence and a shutdown of the Hong Kong airport earlier this week. The demonstrators are demanding expanded political rights and the scrapping of legislation that could have seen criminal suspects sent to mainland China.

A weekend of protests began Friday night with a university student-led “power to the people” rally in Chater Garden, a public square in the financial district.

A pro-democracy march is planned for Saturday along with a separate pro-government “Save Hong Kong” rally, ahead of a major pro-democracy rally called for Sunday. Police have denied permission for the march on Sunday, but protesters have ignored such denials in the past.

China has pressured foreign and Hong Kong companies to support the ruling Communist Party’s position against the protesters.

The CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent companies, resigned Friday following pressure by Beijing on the carrier over participation by some of its employees in the anti-government protests.

Cathay Pacific said Rupert Hogg resigned “to take responsibility” following “recent events.”

The company chairman, John Slosar, said in a statement the airline needed new management because events had “called into question” its commitment to safety and security.

On Monday, Hogg threatened employees with “disciplinary consequences” if they took part in “illegal protests.’

Last week, China’s aviation regulator said Cathay Pacific employees who “support or take part in illegal protests, violent actions, or overly radical behavior” are banned from staffing flights to mainland China.

On Friday morning, Frenchman Alain Robert, who has been dubbed “spiderman” for his unauthorized climbs of skyscrapers, hung a banner appealing for peace as he scaled the 62-story Cheung Kong Center, a landmark Hong Kong building that is the base for property tycoon Li Ka-shing’s business empire.

The banner showed the Chinese and Hong Kong flags over a handshake and a small yellow sun with a smiley face.

“The banner is to give joy and smile to the people of Hong Kong,” he told the AP as he sat in a taxi about to leave for his climb. He added that he didn’t want to get “mixed up in the political situation.”

Robert, 57, was taken to a police station afterward. It wasn’t immediately clear if he would be charged. He was banned in 2017 from returning to Hong Kong for one year after climbing another building. </s> Hong Kong, Aug 11 (ANI): China has urged the United Kingdom to stop interfering in its internal matters and making random and inflammatory accusations against Hong Kong, a special administrative region in southern China that was earlier under the British rule till 1997.

"I'd like to point out that Hong Kong today is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. Long gone are the days when it was under British colonial rule," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Saturday.

Spokesperson of the British Foreign Office said that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had called Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on August 9 and discussed the current turmoil in the region.

Hua was quoted as saying that Britain has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of supervision over Hong Kong when asked to comment on the call.

She added that the Chinese government is responsible for the foreign affairs relating to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in accordance with the Basic Law or the Constitution of the region.

"It is simply wrong for the British government to directly call Hong Kong's Chief Executive to exert pressure," she said, urging the UK to stop its interference in China's internal affairs and stop making random and inflammatory accusations on Hong Kong.

The semi-autonomous region has seen eight consecutive weeks of anti-government protests that began against a now-suspended extradition bill, that have since broadened to include calls for democracy and police accountability.

The said extradition bill was proposed on April 3 and its opposers argue that its controversial amendments will leave anyone on Hong Kong soil vulnerable to being grabbed by the Chinese authorities for political reasons or inadvertent business offences.

Multiple protests sometimes violent continue to take place in the semi-autonomous state despite the city's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam publicly apologising for proposing the controversial legislation and announcing later that the bill was "dead". (ANI)
The Foreign Ministry of China confirms that United Kingdom consulate in Hong Kong employee Simon Cheng, who was reported missing, is administratively detained for 15 days by Shenzhen police.