UK seeking contact with HK consulate staffer held in China

Britain on Thursday said it was trying to contact an employee of its Hong Kong consulate being held in China while "urgently" seeking further information from Beijing and local authorities.

The Foreign Office in London said both British officials and relatives had been unable to speak to the missing staffer, Simon Cheng, who disappeared after visiting mainland China on August 8.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman confirmed Wednesday he had been "placed in administrative detention for 15 days as punishment" by police in Shenzhen, a city on the China-Hong Kong border, for breaking a public security law.

The spokesman also said because Cheng is from Hong Kong, the issue is an internal matter.

"We continue to urgently seek further information about Simon's case," a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said in a statement.

"Neither we nor Simon's family have been able to speak to him since his detention.

"That is our priority and we continue to raise Simon's case repeatedly in China, Hong Kong and London and have sought to make contact with Simon himself."