Hong Kong’s Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng has returned to the city more than two weeks after she was injured during a protest in the UK.

At the airport on Tuesday night, she told reporters that she been receiving medical treatment in Beijing.

Cheng – one of the officials with the lowest ratings – was heckled and jostled by protesters in London as she travelled to attend an event on November 14. Her arm was injured as she fell.

Teresa Cheng
Teresa Cheng.

Cheng met the press at the Chinese Embassy in London on November 20, but she was not seen in public since.

On Tuesday, Cheng thanked the Chinese government for their concern and support.

She said she underwent an operation to fix her fractured left wrist with a titanium plate and screws. It may take three months to a year for her to recover, she said.

She added that she has median nerve symptoms but her condition was improving and she may not require a second operation.

She also said she has made a report to London’s Metropolitan Police over the incident.

Cheng said the Chinese Embassy in the British capital arranged her to fly to Beijing for further check-ups and treatment, before she was discharged on Tuesday and flew back to Hong Kong.

“The hand is, of course, painful. But it is more painful [in] the heart to see Hong Kong is still at the state that we are in, in [a] still disorderly behaviour. And that to me is even more painful than my hand,” she said.

Teresa Cheng Liu Xiaoming
Teresa Cheng and Liu Xiaoming at the Chinese Embassy in London. Photo: Chinese Embassy in UK.

She said she was granted sick leave, but has been working with staff members at the Department of Justice via email.

Cheng said will be back at work on Wednesday.


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Kris Cheng is a Hong Kong journalist with an interest in local politics. His work has been featured in Washington Post, Public Radio International, Hong Kong Economic Times and others. He has a BSSc in Sociology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Kris is HKFP's Editorial Director.