HK: CHINA IN DIPLOMATIC ROW WITH US, UK

HONG KONG : Some anti-government protesters trapped inside a Hong Kong university on Wednesday tried to flee through the sewers, where one student said she saw snakes, but fireman prevented further escape bids by blocking a metal manhole into the system.

Fewer than 100 protesters remained inside the Polytechnic University, ring-fenced 24 hours a day by riot police.

China on Wednesday was engaged on two diplomatic rows over Hong Kong: with the UK and the US. British foreign secretary Dominic Raab condemned China’s treatment of Simon Cheng, a former employee of Britain’s Hong Kong consulate, who said secret police beat him seeking information about the protest movement. “I was hung (handcuffed and shackled) on a steep X-cross doing a spread-eagled pose for hours after hours,” Cheng wrote on Facebook.

“We were shocked and appalled by the mistreatment he suffered while in Chinese detention, which amounts to torture,” Raab said.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Cheng had been detained for 15 days and had admitted fully to his offences. All of his legal rights were safeguarded, the spokesman said.

On Tuesday, the US Senate unanimously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, threatening to revoke the favourable trade status that the semi-autonomous Chinese territory enjoys with the United States if its freedoms are quashed.

Lawmakers also approved a measure that would ban sales of tear gas, rubber bullets and other equipment used by Hong Kong security forces.

Beijing shot back on Wednesday, warning of “strong countermeasures” if the bill becomes law, and summoning acting US charge d’affaires William Klein to lodge a protest.