Bloomberg staffer detained in China released on bail

Bloomberg announced Tuesday that one of its staffers who was detained in 2020 in China was released on bail earlier this year. 

The Chinese Embassy in Washington released a statement saying Haze Fan, a member of Bloomberg News’s bureau in Beijing, was released from jail in January pending trial. 

Bloomberg said it only learned about her release and the statement from the embassy over the weekend. 

“We are encouraged that Haze is out on bail,” said John Micklethwait, Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief. “She is a much valued member of our Beijing bureau — and we will continue to do everything possible to help her and her family.”

Fan, a Chinese citizen, started with Bloomberg in 2017 after previously working in the Beijing bureau for CNBC, Al Jazeera, CBS and Reuters. 

She was arrested in 2020 and formally charged last July on suspicion of committing crimes endangering national security, according to the embassy. 

The Chinese Embassy only announced her release in May after an article in The Washington Post was published for World Press Freedom Day that mentioned Fan’s situation. 

The embassy accused the Post of “groundlessly attacking and smearing China.”

Bloomberg said it has not been in contact or able to contact Fan since her release from jail in January.

The Hill has reached out to Bloomberg for further comment.