China releases British consulate worker

HONG KONG: A British consulate employee detained in China has returned to Hong Kong, his family said yesterday, ending a two-week ordeal during which Beijing’s state media smeared him with lurid allegations.

Simon Cheng disappeared after visiting the neighbouring city of Shenzhen on Aug 8 and was placed in administrative detention by police, unable to contact his family or his British employers.

He was returning to Hong Kong on a high-speed train and sent messages to his girlfriend as he was about to go through customs, shortly before he was stopped by Chinese authorities.

In a statement posted on the Twitter-like Weibo, Shenzhen police said Cheng was “punished with administrative detention for 15 days... for violating the law of the People’s Republic of China on public safety management.”

Cheng’s relieved family announced his return yesterday.

“Simon has returned to Hong Kong,” his family said in a Facebook post, adding he would take “some time to rest and recover”.

Cheng was released yesterday as the term had expired, the police said, adding he had “confessed to the facts of his illegal activity”, but without saying what he was accused of.

The incident came as relations between Britain and China have become strained over what Beijing calls London’s interference” in pro-democracy protests that have wracked Hong Kong for three months.

Beijing has faced criticism previously for detaining foreign nationals during diplomatic spats, and for accusing dissidents or activists of sex crimes.— AFP