EU asks Chinese to allow detained Bloomberg reporter access to lawyer, health care

The European Union called on Chinese authorities to allow a Bloomberg News staffer who was detained last week in Beijing to have access to a lawyer, medical care and contact with her family, reports Daniel Ten Kate of Bloomberg News.

Ten Kate reports, “China has confirmed that Haze Fan, a Chinese citizen who has worked with Bloomberg News since 2017, was detained by the Beijing Municipal National Security Bureau on suspicion of endangering national security. She was seen escorted from her apartment building by plain clothes security officials on Dec. 7.

“‘We expect the Chinese authorities to grant her medical assistance if needed, prompt access to a lawyer of her choice, and contacts with her family,’ the EU said on Saturday night in Brussels. Fan’s family was informed of her detainment within 24 hours.

“China’s mission to the EU responded Sunday with a statement saying Fan was being held under ‘compulsory measures’ and that her rights and interests were being protected. ‘What I want to emphasize is that the lawful handling of the relevant issues by the Chinese authorities is entirely China’s internal affair, in which no other country or organization has any right to interfere,’ a spokesperson for the mission said.”

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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.