Paris, July 21 (IANS) Several leading international press freedom and human rights organisations have urged Thai authorities not to deport detained Chinese journalist Bai Zhaodong to China, warning that he faces a grave risk of enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture, and other cruel or inhuman treatment because of his reporting on corruption at the highest levels of the Chinese government.
Citing local sources, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Safeguard Defenders said that Chinese journalist Bai, detained at the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok, faces the risk of deportation to China following pressure from Beijing.
The development came just days ahead of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s visit to China from July 16 to 20, 2026.
In a joint statement, the organisations said that Bai fled China on November 29 2023, following which the Public Security Bureau of Yulin City issued an arrest warrant against him in September 2024, on what they described as trumped-up allegations of “extortion”.
They further noted that Thai authorities have since prevented Bai’s relocation to a safe third country and prohibited him from leaving the country.
Highlighting that Bai has been held in Thai detention since January 2026, the organisations warned that if deported, the journalist is “at grave foreseeable, present, personal and real risk of political persecution, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other serious human rights violations. “
Bai has worked as an investigative journalist in China for over 25 years as well as with the renowned Beijing Caijing Magazine.
The organisations noted that his reporting exposed a “large-scale corruption and financial fraud network involving money laundering and other illicit financial activities”, allegedly implicating both local government officials and higher-ranking officials within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“We call on the Thai authorities to permit the journalist Bai Zhaodong to relocate to a country of his choosing and to refrain from complying with any requests from the Chinese government. Thai government must uphold its obligations under international law and demonstrate its clear commitment to established human rights standards, or risk serious damage to its global reputation,” said Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Manager, RSF Asia-Pacific
“In recent years, the Chinese regime has gained notoriety for the systematic persecution of journalists and remains the world’s leading jailer of reporters, with 120 individuals currently detained. Should Bai be forcibly returned to China, he would face not only persecution but also grave risks to his personal safety,” she added.
Citing RSF’s latest report on the use of national security laws against journalists, the organisations said that the Chinese government often uses vague charges such as “espionage,” “subversion,” or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” to charge journalists.
According to the RSF, 120 journalists are currently imprisoned in China –making the country the “biggest prison for journalists” in the world.
–IANS
scor/rs
