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Haze Fan: China releases Bloomberg staff member on bail

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China has arrested or expelled numerous journalists in recent years

Bloomberg news says one of its staff members in China, who has been held on charges of threatening national security, has been freed on bail.

The agency said it was told of Haze Fan's release by China's US embassy, but had been unable to contact her.

Ms Fan, who is a Chinese citizen, was last seen in December 2020 being escorted from her apartment building by plain-clothes security officials.

She is among a number of media workers whom China has arrested or expelled.

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She was formally arrested in July 2021 on suspicion of committing crimes endangering national security.

Bloomberg said Ms Fan was released on bail in January this year. It is unclear why the news has only just emerged.

China said at the time of her arrest that the matter was an "internal affair", warning others not to interfere.

There has been no official comment on her release by the Chinese foreign ministry.

Ms Fan has been at Bloomberg since 2017, having previously worked for news agency Reuters, as well as for CNBC, Al Jazeera and CBS News.

A report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued in December 2021 describes China as "the world's biggest captor of journalists", with at least 127 reporters in detention at the time of writing.

It said China was conducting an "unprecedented campaign of repression" worldwide against journalism.

China has justified the arrests of reporters and citizen journalists by accusing them of provoking trouble.