Two human rights organizations have called on Thailand to refrain from deporting a Chinese journalist who exposed corruption in China, warning that he could face political persecution and torture if returned.
According to a joint statement issued on Wednesday by Reporters Without Borders and Spain-based Asia rights group Safeguard Defenders, journalist Bai Zhaodong is at risk of deportation after Beijing allegedly pressured Thai authorities over his reporting on the Chinese government.
The groups said Thai authorities have detained Bai since January, barred him from leaving Thailand and are holding him at a Bangkok immigration centre.
The Chinese and Thai foreign ministries did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is in China until Monday, is expected to meet President Xi Jinping.
Corruption investigation and flight from China
Bai exposed a large corruption and financial fraud network implicating local government officials and higher-ranking officials in the Chinese Communist Party, the rights groups said. This led to persecution by the authorities, including intensified surveillance, criminal charges, interrogations and detentions, they said.
Bai fled China in 2023, and the next year the Public Security Bureau in the Chinese city of Yulin issued an arrest warrant against him, they said.
Fears of persecution if returned
“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.
The statement said Bai faces “foreseeable, present, personal and real risk of political persecution, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other serious human rights violations” if deported to China.
“In recent years, the Chinese regime have gained notoriety for the systematic persecution of journalists and remain the world’s leading jailer of reporters, with 120 individuals currently detained,” said Aleksandra Bielakowska, advocacy manager for the Asia-Pacific region at Reporters Without Borders.
“Should Bai be forcibly returned to China, he would face not only persecution but also grave risks to his personal safety.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
