Hong Kong: No 'notification' from mainland so far - police on missing UK consulate staffer

W/S Hong Kong police representatives entering press conference room and sitting down, police headquarters, Admiralty
SOT, Kong Wing-cheung, Senior Superintendent (Media Liaison and Communication) of Hong Kong Police Public Relations Branch: "The incident happened on the 21st of July. Yes, we have arrested 28 people relating to the event. And actually, we are still under the liaison with the Department of Justice. And if the evidence is sufficient, we will definitely charge them. And..."
Journalist: "So no charges so far?"
Kong Wing-cheung, Senior Superintendent (Media Liaison and Communication) of Police Public Relations Branch: "So far, no charges, yeah, correct. For the last question, yes, we received a report on the 9th of August relating to a missing person case. But for the sake of personal data, I couldn't disclose too [many] details here. And the case is currently under the inquiry by the regional missing person unit of Kowloon West region. And so far, the Hong Kong police force [has] not received any notification from the mainland authority under the reciprocal notification mechanism."
Journalist: "Are you worried about people being arrested [in] Hong Kong by the Chinese authorities in the station?
Kong Wing-cheung, Senior Superintendent (Media Liaison and Communication) of Police Public Relations Branch: "At this stage, I do not have any evidence to support your version or allegation. And [the] Hong Kong police force is one of the law enforcement [agencies] in Hong Kong. And I don't think our mainland authority had any authority or powers to exercise their arrest or other statutory powers here."
W/S Press *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Tse Chun-chung, Chief Superintendent of Police Public Relations Branch: "The police respect all citizens' right to assembly and to express their opinion freely. We continue to work with organisers to ensure public order events are able to proceed in an orderly and safe manner. When [deciding] whether to issue a letter of no objection to organisers of a public event, the police will conduct an independent safety risk assessment and consider a range of factors, such as [the] proposed location and route, the expected size of crowd and whether the organiser has the ability to manage the gathering. Every application is considered on a case-by-case basis. Indeed, between 2008 and July this year, the police issued a letter of no objection to around 99 percent of all applications. As for public order events relating to the extradition bill since June, the police have issued [a] letter of no objection to as many as over 80 percent of all the applications. Over the past two months, we have received over 9,000 letters from members of the public as well as community groups. They gave us a lot of feedback on how we should handle public events. We will review them carefully. When facilitating public order events, it is a responsibility of [the] police to ensure public order and public safety. The police must also safeguard the rights and freedoms of others."
M/S Press
M/S Police headquarters
W/S Police headquarters
SCRIPT
The Hong Kong police said that they have "not received any notification from the mainland authority" amid unconfirmed reports that a missing employee of the UK Consulate in Hong Kong, Simon Cheng Man-kit, may have been detained in China.
Speaking at a press conference in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Senior Superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Public Relations Branch, Kong Wing-cheung, confirmed that the police had received a missing person report on August 9.
He said that he could not disclose further details "for the sake of personal data," noting that the case "is currently under the inquiry by the regional missing person unit of Kowloon West region."
The 28-year-old trade officer at the UK Consulate in Hong Kong went missing on August 8 as he was returning from a business trip in Guangdong's Shenzhen, according to his girlfriend. On Tuesday, the UK Foreign Office said that it is "extremely concerned" by reports that Cheng had been detained by Chinese authorities.