The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms that Bloomberg reporter Haze Fan has been arrested on suspicion of undermining national security, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2020) The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms that Bloomberg reporter Haze Fan has been arrested on suspicion of undermining national security, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday.
Last week, the Bloomberg news agency reported that Fan, who is a Chinese citizen, had been detained for activities that allegedly endanger China's security. She was last seen to be escorted from her apartment in Beijing by Chinese security officers.
"According to the available information, Chinese citizen Fan is suspected of actions that jeopardize China's national security, the Beijing office of the Ministry of State Security has carried out enforcement measures against her. The case is currently being examined," Wang said, adding that Fan's rights are being respected.
Fan worked for outlets such as CNBS, CBS, Al Jazeera and Reuters and has been with Bloomberg since 2017. As Chinese nationals are prohibited to work as journalist for foreign news services, Fan was listed as a news assistant.
This is not the first time Beijing takes issue with journalists working for foreign news outlets. In August, Cheng Lei, a China-born Australian citizen working for the Chinese state-run English CGTN channel, was detained on the same grounds as Fan and in the following month two Australian journalists � ABC Beijing correspondent Bill Birtles and Australian Financial Review Shanghai correspondent Michael Smith � returned home after being questioned by the Chinese authorities.
