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U.K. Risks China’s Wrath With Latest Intervention Over Protests

Former U.K. Consulate Worker Alleges Torture by Chinese Agents

(Bloomberg) -- By accusing China of torturing a former employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong, the U.K. raised the stakes in a prolonged spat with Beijing over the pro-democracy protests in its former colony. Recent precedent suggests it’s a course of action fraught with risk.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s decision to summon the Chinese ambassador over the treatment of Simon Cheng, who said Wednesday he was beaten for information about protesters in Hong Kong while he was detained in August, drew a firm rebuke from China. The Chinese government described the British minister’s remarks as “wrong” and warned that further interference “will eventually harm U.K. interests.”

Calculated or not, the deterioration in ties comes at an inopportune time for Boris Johnson’s government, which has prioritized improved trade with the world’s second-largest economy after the U.K. leaves the European Union.

The U.K. government already faces a delicate balancing act when it comes to relations with China. This includes the looming decision over whether to allow Huawei Technologies Co. to be part of Britain’s future mobile communications network -- against the wishes of the U.S.

Canada provides an example of how quickly events can escalate. When the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detained Huawei’s chief financial officer on a U.S. extradition request last year, Beijing responded by throwing two Canadians into jail on spying allegations, putting another two on death row and halting about $3.8 billion in Canadian agricultural imports.

History

At the same time, turning a blind eye to events in Hong Kong is all but impossible. The U.K. returned the territory to Chinese rule in 1997 on the promise that Beijing would maintain the city’s independent courts, democratic institutions and capitalist financial system. Pro-democracy demonstrators have frequently called on the British government to intervene in their struggle.

London has urged authorities to resolve concerns through dialog, and criticized the “disproportionate” use of force by police. Beijing has repeatedly accused London of meddling and ignoring Hong Kong’s change of status.

Those tensions have come to the boil over the case of Cheng -- a Hong Kong resident who worked for the British consulate’s business-development team before he went missing in mainland China for 15 days in August.

“Simon Cheng was a valued member of our team,” Raab, the most senior member of the British cabinet after Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said in a statement. He demanded an investigation into the “brutal and disgraceful treatment of Simon in violation of China’s international obligations.”

Raab also said the U.K.’s Foreign Office was supporting Cheng and his fiancee, “including to come to the U.K.”

At a regular news briefing in Beijing, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said the case is not a diplomatic matter because it involves a Chinese national, and referred questions to “relevant authorities.” He said the former consulate worker had admitted to wrongdoing.

Cheng was released on Aug. 24 after being held in extra-judicial detention for what state media said was a prostitution-related offense. He denied those allegations in his statement on Facebook on Wednesday.

Opposition lawmakers have argued that Cheng’s case illustrates the arbitrary nature of the legal system in China, which has fueled recent protests in the city. Cheng said he was initially detained while returning via a high-speed railway station where Hong Kong agreed last year to let mainland agents operate despite fierce opposition from rights advocates.

“Beijing is throwing down further signs of disrespect for the rule of law and taking a vindictive attitude toward Hong Kong citizens, particularly those with links to foreign countries,” said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Centre for China Studies, who has written numerous books on Chinese politics. “This might resonate very badly, poison the atmosphere and prevent a peaceful and rational solution to the confrontation between the protesters and the SAR government.”

In his statement, Cheng said he got a massage “for relaxation” during a work trip to Shenzhen. He acknowledge participating in some peaceful protests in Hong Kong and said he collected money from the parents of a mainland resident facing prosecution in the city for taking part in demonstrations.

Detention

Still, Cheng denied what he described as “arbitrary accusations against me made by the authorities which were obtained through an illegal process, includes using torture, threats and coercion.”

Cheng said his interrogators described him as a mastermind behind the Hong Kong protests, and one promised to keep him in jail indefinitely, causing him to contemplate suicide. He acknowledged sharing details about people in his social media groups to cut short his detention. He also said he had been warned by Chinese police he would face retribution if he spoke about his experiences.

“I speak out now because the case is relevant to the public interest on knowing the flawed judicial process in mainland China,” he said. “I have not fully recovered from the trauma of what happened to me and because of the greater risk of retaliation that I face, I will give no further comment on the case.”

--With assistance from Joe Mayes, Crystal Chui, Iain Marlow and Lucille Liu.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in London at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Thomas Penny

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.