Canada halts Hong Kong consulate staff travel after UK case

Simon Cheng Man-kit, second from left, a resident of Hong Kong. China

HONG KONG (AP) — The Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong says it has suspended local staff from travelling outside the city including to mainland China.

The move comes after the Chinese government said a British Consulate employee has been detained after he went to the neighboring mainland city of Shenzhen.

In a statement Friday, the Canadian Consulate says, “At present, locally engaged staff will not undertake official business travel outside of Hong Kong.”

It didn’t say whether the travel restriction was directly related to the detention of the British Consulate staffer, Simon Cheng Man-kit, who went missing two weeks ago after he went on a business trip to the mainland from Hong Kong’s high-speed cross-border rail terminal.

China said this week Cheng had been detained for violating public order regulations. It did not elaborate.