Rights groups urge Thailand to halt forcible return of Chinese journalist Bai Zhaodong to China

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Safeguard Defenders, a human rights organization focused on China, call on Thai authorities to refrain from deporting detained prominent Chinese journalist Bai Zhaodong to China.

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Bai Zhaodong … exposed a large-scale corruption and financial fraud network involving money laundering and other illicit financial activities. The investigation implicated both local government officials and higher-ranking officials within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

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Due to the nature of its findings and the senior individuals implicated, his work was regarded by the authorities as highly sensitive. Following its publication, Bai was subjected to intensified surveillance, intimidation, and sustained pressure from both regional and central government authorities, as RSF information. Throughout his career, Bai Zhaodong has been subjected to retaliatory persecution by Chinese authorities for his investigative reporting on corruption and financial fraud in Shaanxi Province, including six instances of criminal charges, interrogations and detentions.

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As RSF’s latest report on the use of national security laws against journalists shows, the Chinese government often uses vague charges such as “espionage,” “subversion,” or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”to charge journalists. 120 journalists are currently imprisoned in China - the biggest prison for journalists in the world as RSF data shows.

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