【中国观察2020年12月11日讯】美东时间12月11日凌晨4时，彭博社（Bloomberg News）官网发布了一份声明，称接获中共官方通知，证实该社驻华女记者范若伊已被北京市国安局拘留，其被指控“涉嫌从事危害国家安全”的活动。中方并称，范女士的家人也已得到通知，该案目前仍在调查过程中。
彭博社的声明披露，范若依最后一次与彭博社编辑的联络，是在7日上午11时30分，此后她便与外界失去了联系，而彭博社得知，她当时是被几名便衣人员带离了公寓。彭博社随后多次向中共政府和中共驻美大使馆询问范女士的下落，但直到10日才得到比较确切的消息，知道范已被中共国安抓捕。这份声明还引述彭博社发言人的话表示，彭博社非常关注范若伊的情况，并一直积极与中共当局对话，以寻求了解更多情况，彭博社将继续竭尽全力支援这名员工。
公开资料显示，范若伊是中国公民，曾经为半岛电视台和路透社工作，并从2017年开始为彭博社工作。范若伊的推特（Twitter）账号上的简介显示，她的职业是彭博社全球商业新闻记者（Bloomberg News Global Business Reporter）。
今年以来，美国政府与中共政府展开了一场“媒体战”。迄今为止，中共当局已先后驱逐了《华尔街日报》、《华盛顿邮报》等十几名美国媒体的驻华记者，还有多名美媒记者的驻华签证在到期后被中共拒绝续签，另有分部美媒驻华的中国籍雇员被迫离职。此外，还有2名澳媒驻华特派记者，因遭中共公安的威胁而于今年9月紧急撤离中国。
在这场媒体战中，美国政府则更多从媒体政策方面收紧针对中共官媒的监督与限制。
首先，美国国务院于今年2月18日宣布，新华社、中国环球电视网（CGTN）、中国国际广播电台（CRI）、《中国日报》及《人民日报》发行商美国海天发展公司这5家中共官媒，并非新闻媒体而是“中国共产党的工具”，因此将这5家中共官媒定性为“外国使团”。
美国务院同时还要求，这5家机构需要向美国务院提交其在美工作人员的姓名、个人资料及人事变动决定，并向国务院登记在美租赁或持有的房产清单，还规定这些机构此后在美租赁或者购买新的房产时也需提前获得美国政府的许可。此后，美国政府进一步收紧限制，要求这5家中共官媒的驻美机构削减60名中国籍雇员，并于5月8日宣布，将中国籍记者在美的签证停留期限制为90天。
对此，美国亚洲协会美中关系中心主任夏伟（Orville Schell）曾在接受BBC中文网采访时表示，在中美关系中，美国长期忍受着中共政府对驻华美国媒体的不公平对待，耐心已耗尽。
U.S.-China Media War Escalates Again, Beijing State Security Arrests Bloomberg China Employee
Screenshot of the Bloomberg China female reporter Fan Ruoy's Twitter account. (Web Screenshot)
A female Bloomberg correspondent in China has been arrested by the Chinese Communist Party's state security agency on suspicion of "endangering national security. This year, Beijing has expelled more than 10 U.S. media reporters from China, denied visas to several foreign media reporters, and threatened two Australian media reporters in China with evacuation.
At 4:00 a.m. EST on December 11, Bloomberg News released a statement on its website stating that it had received official notification from the Chinese Communist Party that its female correspondent in China, Fan Ruoy, had been detained by the Beijing State Security Bureau and charged with "allegedly engaging in activities that endanger national security. The Chinese side also said that Ms. Fan's family has been notified and that the case is still under investigation.
The Bloomberg statement revealed that Fan last contacted Bloomberg editors at 11:30 a.m. on the 7th, after which she lost contact with the outside world, and Bloomberg learned that she was taken from her apartment by several plainclothes officers. Bloomberg then repeatedly asked the Chinese government and the Chinese embassy in the United States about Ms. Fan's whereabouts, but did not receive more definitive information until the 10th that Fan had been arrested by Chinese state security.
The statement also quoted a Bloomberg spokesperson as saying that Bloomberg is very concerned about Fan Ruo Yi's situation and has been actively talking with the Chinese Communist authorities to seek more information, and that Bloomberg will continue to do everything it can to support the employee.
Fan is a Chinese citizen who has worked for Al Jazeera and Reuters, and has worked for Bloomberg since 2017, according to public sources. Fan's profile on her Twitter account indicates that she works as a Bloomberg News Global Business Reporter.
This year, the U.S. government has been engaged in a "media war" with the Chinese Communist government. To date, the Chinese authorities have expelled more than a dozen U.S. media reporters from China, including the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and several U.S. media reporters have been denied renewals of their visas to China after their visas expired. In addition, two special correspondents from Australian media in China were evacuated from China in September of this year due to threats from Chinese public security officials.
In this media war, the U.S. government has tightened its oversight and restrictions on the CCP's official media more in terms of media policy.
First, the U.S. State Department announced on February 18 that Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Radio International (CRI), China Daily, and People's Daily publisher Haitian Development Corporation were not news media but "tools of the Chinese Communist Party," and therefore classified the five official media as "foreign missions.
The State Department also required the five organizations to submit the names and personal information of their staff members in the U.S. and decisions on personnel changes to the State Department, and to register with the State Department a list of properties leased or held in the U.S. They were also required to obtain advance permission from the U.S. government to lease or purchase new properties in the U.S. in the future. Since then, the U.S. government has further tightened restrictions, requiring the five official Communist media outlets to reduce their Chinese employees by 60 and announcing on May 8 that the visa stay for Chinese journalists in the U.S. would be limited to 90 days.
In response, Orville Schell, director of the Center for U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, said in an interview with BBC Chinese that the U.S. has long endured unfair treatment by the Chinese Communist government of U.S. media in China, and that patience has run out.