An employee of the
British consulate in Hong Kong has been detained in
China for involvement in prostitution, the state-backed Global Times newspaper said on Thursday, as
Britain said it continued to urgently seek information.
China's foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the employee, Simon Cheng, had been detained in the border city of Shenzhen neighboring Hong Kong.
In a report on its English-language website, the paper, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, cited Shenzhen
police as saying Cheng had been detained for 15 days for "solicitation of prostitution".