BEIJING • The Chinese authorities have detained a Chinese national working for the Bloomberg News bureau in Beijing on suspicion of endangering national security, said the news agency and China's Foreign Ministry.
According to a Bloomberg report, Ms Haze Fan was seen being escorted from her apartment building by plain-clothes security officials on Monday, shortly after she had been in contact with one of her editors.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in response to a Reuters query on Friday: "Chinese citizen Ms Fan has been detained by the Beijing National Security Bureau according to relevant Chinese law on suspicion of engaging in criminal activities that jeopardise national security."
The ministry added: "The case is currently under investigation. Ms Fan's legitimate rights have been fully ensured and her family has been notified."
The Beijing National Security Bureau could not immediately be reached for comment.
A spokesman for New York-based Bloomberg said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters: "We are very concerned for her, and have been actively speaking to Chinese authorities to better understand the situation."
Added the spokesman: "We are continuing to do everything we can to support her while we seek more information."
Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait and other senior editors told China-based staff that the Chinese authorities said Ms Fan had not been detained in relation to her work, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.
Ms Fan has been at Bloomberg since 2017 and previously worked for Reuters, CNBC, Al Jazeera and CBS News, according to her LinkedIn profile.
China has expelled more than a dozen foreign journalists at US media organisations this year by cancelling their press credentials as its relations with Washington have worsened.
In August, the authorities in Beijing detained journalist Cheng Lei, a China-born Australian citizen working for the Chinese state-run broadcaster China Global Television Network, on suspicion of activities that endangered national security.
In September, the Australian government helped two Australian foreign correspondents to leave China after they were questioned by China's State Security Ministry.
REUTERS
