China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that missing British Consulate-General Hong Kong employee Simon Cheng is being held under administrative detention in Shenzhen for 15 days. It also said this issue is a matter of China's internal affairs.


People have gathered outside the British Consulate-General Hong Kong to show their support for missing consulate-general employee Simon Cheng. He has been missing for nearly two weeks. They urged the British government to launch a rescue mission.

I'm here standing in front of the consulate-general. Today, we want to urge the UK government to step up and act now. Save Simon now.

I think China is tightening its grip on basically… on Hong Kong and is using these diplomatic… like using these detentions to send a message to the world that they are in control.

Cheng's supporters said they feared if they didn't take a stand now, China would take a harder line in the future and further curtail the freedom of the Hong Kong people. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously said it did not know of Cheng's case. However, on Aug. 21, it said Cheng is being held under administrative detention for 15 days.

Frankly speaking, this is not a foreign affairs issue. However, since everyone is so concerned, we did spend a lot of effort to contact the relevant authorities to learn more about the situation. The person you mentioned is being held under administrative detention for 15 days by the Shenzhen police for violating the Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China.

Under Chinese law, local public security bureaus can decide to detain a person under administrative detention, and the detention is not contingent on a court hearing. However, the detention cannot exceed 15 days. The ministry also said Cheng is a Hong Kong citizen, not a British citizen, and therefore this is entirely a matter of China's internal affairs and other countries should not intervene. The Hong Kong police previously inquired at a local public security bureau, but did not receive a response.

Maybe because this gentleman is under administrative detention, the Hong Kong Police Force do not receive any information from the mainland counterpart about him in the mainland.

Cheng attended National Taiwan University and is employed by the British Consulate-General Hong Kong. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office is therefore paying close attention to developments in this case. This detention occurred at a sensitive time, as Hong Kong residents are continuing to protest a proposed extradition bill. It remains unknown at this point whether Cheng's detention will have a chilling effect or further enrage Hong Kong residents.



英國駐港總領事館前，聚集大批民眾，全是為了聲援失聯至今已經近兩週的英國駐港總領事館員工鄭文傑，希望英國政府能夠展開救援行動。

民眾表示：「我站在英國駐香港總領事館前，今天我們希望敦促英國政府，立刻採取行動，現在就救出鄭文傑。」

民眾表示：「我認為中國正在加強對香港的控制，利用外交手段或拘留手段，來向全世界傳達，他們可以掌控一切的訊息。」

抗議民眾認為，如果現在沒有站出來，後面中方更會加強力道，進一步限縮香港人的自由，原先表示不知情的中國外交部，21號對外證實，鄭文傑遭到行政拘留15天。

中國外交部發言人 耿爽表示：「坦率講，這不是一個外交問題，但既然大家這麼關心，我們還確實費了不少力氣，向有關部門去了解情況，你提到的這個人，因為違反中華人民共和國治安管理處罰法，被深圳警方，處以行政拘留15天的處罰。」

根據中國法律，行政拘留指的是由當地公安機關裁定、不須經法院審訊就可以將人留下，但最長不超過15天，耿爽強調，鄭文傑是香港公民、並非是英國公民，也就是說這完全是中國內部事務，他國無法干涉，香港警方曾經嘗試詢問當地公安機關，但沒獲得回覆。

香港警察公共關係科高級警司 江永祥表示：「可能因為這男子被行政拘留，香港警方沒有從內地當局，接收過任何關於他的消息。」

鄭文傑曾就讀台大，而因為在英國駐港總領事館工作，也引發英國外交部強烈關注事件發展。目前正值香港反送中敏感時機，鄭文傑風波是否製造寒蟬效應或引發港人更大怒火，還有待觀察。