NPR

Former U.K. Consulate Staffer In Hong Kong Says He Was Tortured In Mainland China

Simon Cheng says he spent days blindfolded and strapped to a "tiger chair" as police tried to extract information. He says they accused him of spying. The Chinese government denies Cheng's claims.
Simon Cheng, pictured in this poster, went missing on Aug. 9 after visiting the mainland China city of Shenzhen. The Hong Kong citizen and former staff member at the U.K. consulate says he was tortured while being held by Chinese police.

A Hong Kong citizen who worked for the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong says secret police officers tortured him in mainland China, accusing him of being a spy and working to agitate pro-democracy protests.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Simon Cheng says he was beaten, put into stress positions and deprived of sleep for a roughly two-week period in August after Chinese police detained him at a train station at Hong Kong's border with the mainland.

Cheng, 29, says he had been trying to return home from a

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