Rights Groups Urge Thailand Not to Deport Chinese Journalist
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- Reporters Without Borders and Safeguard Defenders urged Thailand not to deport Bai Zhaodong, saying he faces a "foreseeable, present, personal and real risk" of political persecution, enforced disappearance, and torture if returned to China.
- Thai authorities have detained Bai since January at a Bangkok immigration centre and barred him from leaving the country.
- Beijing pressured Bangkok over Bai's reporting on Chinese government corruption, and the Public Security Bureau in Yulin issued an arrest warrant against him in 2024 after he fled China in 2023.
- Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is in China until Monday and expected to meet President Xi Jinping — a visit the rights groups say could intensify the pressure to deport.
- Safeguard Defenders director Laura Harth called on Thai authorities to "withstand the growing pressure from (China)" and uphold international and domestic torture prohibitions.
- Reporters Without Borders noted that China "remains the world's leading jailer of reporters, with 120 individuals currently detained," framing Bai's case as part of a broader pattern.
Why it matters: Bai's fate now hinges on a Thai PM who is physically in Beijing meeting Xi Jinping — the visit most likely to generate the pressure to deport him. With China holding 120 detained journalists and an active arrest warrant waiting for Bai in Yulin, any forced return would deepen Bangkok's alignment with Beijing while breaching Thailand's stated anti-torture commitments.
