Simon Cheng, who has since left the consulate, said that he was interrogated “for days and days, hours after hours”

The torture of a former British consular official in Hong Kong is “disgraceful” and amounts to “outrageous behaviour from the authorities in China”, the foreign secretary said today after the UK hinted that it was considering an offer of residency for him.

Last night Simon Cheng, a 29-year-old Hong Kong citizen, said he had been detained by the Chinese authorities in August and tortured for 15 days. He said he had been interrogated because Beijing wanted to know what role Britain had taken in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Mr Cheng said that he had been shackled to a steel chair, hung spread-eagled on a cross in the shape of an X, and beaten.

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, said this morning that Mr