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August 21, 2019China has confirmed the administrative detention of the employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong, Simon Cheng Man-kit. The news of the officials' disappearance, on 8 August, was given first, Tuesday, by the information website HK01, and subsequently confirmed by London. The detention of the young employee of the consulate, 28, was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Beijing Foreign Ministry, Geng Shuang, during today's press conference. The employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong is detained in the neighboring Shenzhen, where he went for a business trip.

The period of administrative detention in China lasts 15 days and the man is accused of having violated the regulations concerning public security, as explained by the spokesman. After the spread of the news of the disappearance of the employee of the British consulate in Shenzhen, Britain said it was "extremely worried". Cheng's detention comes at a time of difficult relations between Beijing and London, accused by China of interfering in the Hong Kong issue. On the evening of today, local time, a demonstration is also planned outside the headquarters of the British Consulate in Hong Kong, in favor of its release.

China has protested with Great Britain for the "irresponsible statements" made since the beginning of the anti-government protests in Hong Kong and for what it calls "interference" in the affairs of the British excolonia. "We protested with Britain about the series of comments and actions on Hong Kong," said the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. "We asked to stop these irresponsible statements, to interfere in Hong Kong matters and to interfere in Chinese domestic affairs."