Chinese government conducts inspections of Bloomberg bureaus

Chinese authorities conducted unannounced “inspections” at Bloomberg News bureaus in Beijing and Shanghai in the final days of November, report Peter Elkind and Scott Cendrowski of Fortune.

Elking and Cendrowski write, “Details of the inspections, conducted on the same day at the news bureaus in Beijing and Shanghai, are sketchy. It’s unclear how many officials were present or what government agency they represented. Different sources say, variously, that the visits were characterized as ‘security inspections’ or ‘safety inspections.’ But journalists inside Bloomberg view the appearance by civil government officials (they weren’t police) as an act of intimidation — precisely the reaction Bloomberg was eager to avoid.

“Winkler referred questions to a company spokesman, who declined to comment.

“Last year, the Chinese government reacted strongly to an award-winning Bloomberg investigative series on the private wealth accumulated by the families of top public officials. China has refused to grant journalist visas to Bloomberg and, according to the New York Times, has ordered some companies not to lease Bloomberg terminals.”

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