Hong Kong denies visa to Bloomberg reporter Fan

The Hong Kong Immigration Department has denied a work visa to Bloomberg News reporter Haze Fan, a Chinese national who was previously detained for at least 13 months by national security officials in Beijing.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports, “‘Hong Kong authorities should not normalize the practice of refusing foreign or mainland Chinese journalists visa applications or renewals,’ said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. ‘The government must recognize that the city’s economic vitality heavily depends on the work of these journalists.’

“On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s independent news site Hong Kong Free Press reported that Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait announced in a staff notice Fan’s visa denial and her subsequent transfer to the outlet’s London office.

“Fan was first detained in Beijing by plainclothes security officials in December 2020 on suspicion of participating in activities that endangered national security. She was released on bail in January 2022, according to a statement by Chinese authorities dated May 2022. However, the journalist was unable to be located for more than a month, according to her employer.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.