UK ‘extremely concerned’ by China’s detention of employee at Hong Kong consulate

The United Kingdom said Tuesday it was “extremely concerned” by reports that an employee at its Hong Kong consulate was detained by China.

Local media reported that Chinese national Simon Cheng, who was a staff member at Britain’s consulate, did not return to work on Aug. 9 after visiting Shenzhen in mainland China, according to Reuters.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang confirmed Wednesday that Cheng had been detained for 15 days for allegedly violating public security management regulations.

{mosads}While he gave no details for the arrest, he did respond to the U.K.’s concern.

“He is not a British citizen. He is a Chinese person, so this is entirely a matter of China’s internal affairs,” Geng said.

“As for Britain’s comments, we’ve made stern representations to Britain for the series of comments and actions they’ve made on Hong Kong,” he said.

The incident is likely to worsen an already tense situation between Beijing and London.

China has accused the U.K. of meddling in its internal affairs while thousands flood the streets of Hong Kong in anti-government protests.

International powers have urged China to respect the “one country, two systems” policy under which Hong Kong was returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.