The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday that an employee of the British Consulate General in Hong Kong was detained and is being held by Shenzhen police.

The employee was given 15 days' administrative detention by Shenzhen police for violating China's regulation on public security management, Geng Shuang, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a routine press conference on Wednesday.

According to the Hong Kong Free Press, the detained employee was identified as Simon Cheng Man-kit, a 28-year-old trade and investment officer at the Scottish Development International section of the consulate, who attended a business event in Shenzhen on August 8 but after that did not return to work in Hong Kong on August 9. 

The UK Foreign Office expressed concern over the incident on Tuesday and the British Embassy in Beijing also allegedly provided support for his family, according to the BBC.

Geng slammed the UK government for interfering in Hong Kong affairs. 

"The employee is a Hongkonger, a Chinese. So it's purely China's internal affairs," Geng said. 

The British side has made a series of false comments on Hong Kong affairs and China has repeatedly made solemn representations to the British side, Geng noted. 

China demanded the British side to stop making irresponsible remarks, interfering with Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, Geng said. 

Geng urged the UK side to stop finger-pointing and fanning the flames on Hong Kong affairs.
Newspaper headline: British consulate employee in HK detained in Shenzhen for violating China’s rules