Bangkok, Thailand. Two human rights groups have urged Thailand not to deport Chinese journalist Bai Zhaodong, saying he faces political persecution, arbitrary detention and torture if returned to China.
Reporters Without Borders and Safeguard Defenders said Thai authorities have detained Bai since January and are holding him at a Bangkok immigration centre after barring him from leaving Thailand.
Pressure over reporting
The groups said Bai faces possible deportation following pressure from Beijing over his reporting on the Chinese government.
Bai investigated a corruption and financial fraud network that allegedly implicated local government officials and higher-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials, according to the statement. The groups said his reporting resulted in intensified surveillance, criminal charges, interrogations and detention by Chinese authorities.
Bai fled China in 2023. In 2024, the Public Security Bureau in Yulin, China, issued an arrest warrant against him, the groups said.
Risk if returned
Safeguard Defenders said Bai would face a “foreseeable, present, personal and real risk of political persecution, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other serious human rights violations” if deported.
“Thai authorities must withstand the growing pressure from (China) to forcibly detain and return individuals sought for clear political persecution by the Chinese Communist Party and uphold its commitments under international and domestic torture prohibitions,” Laura Harth, a director at Safeguard Defenders, said in the statement.
Aleksandra Bielakowska, advocacy manager for the Asia-Pacific region at Reporters Without Borders, said China remains the world’s leading jailer of journalists, with 120 people currently detained.
“Should Bai be forcibly returned to China, he would face not only persecution but also grave risks to his personal safety,” Bielakowska said.
Officials unavailable for comment
The Chinese and Thai foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is in China until Monday and is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
