Thai immigration authorities have detained a Chinese activist sought by Hong Kong police over alleged national security offences, preventing her from travelling to Canada under a refugee resettlement arrangement.
Zhang Xinyan, 55, was taken into custody just hours before her scheduled departure and is being held at Bangkok’s Suan Phlu immigration detention centre, according to Sunai Phasuk, senior adviser at Human Rights Watch Thailand.
Ms Zhang is among several pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong who are living in exile. She arrived in Thailand in 2014 after fleeing persecution linked to her involvement with Falun Gong, a spiritual movement prohibited by the Chinese government.
She was later left without valid travel documents after the Chinese Embassy in Thailand confiscated and revoked her passport when she attempted to renew it. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recognised her as a refugee in 2016.
In July 2025, Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants for Ms Zhang and 18 other overseas-based activists, accusing them of subversion under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing. Rewards offered for information leading to their arrests range from HK$200,000 to HK$1 million.
Thai immigration officers arrested Ms Zhang in May on allegations of overstaying her visa and working without authorisation.
The type of visa she had previously held remains unclear. She was subsequently placed in immigration detention while officials considered deportation proceedings.
Mr Sunai warned at the time that returning her to China could expose her to serious harm and potentially breach both international law and Thailand’s Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act.
Should she be deported and imprisoned, Ms Zhang could become the first person accused under Hong Kong’s National Security Law to be forcibly returned from another country.
Efforts To Secure Resettlement
Following her detention on May 7, Ms Zhang contacted Sheng Xue, an independent journalist based in Canada, who began coordinating efforts to secure her resettlement.
Yuan Gongyi, founder of the Hong Kong Parliament-in-Exile, also arranged for a Thai human rights lawyer to assist with her case.
According to Ms Sheng, the Canadian embassy in Thailand later interviewed Ms Zhang, completed medical and biometric procedures and booked her on a July 8 flight from Bangkok to Vancouver.
However, Thai authorities stopped her from leaving shortly before the scheduled journey.
“My friends and I had originally planned to go to Vancouver to celebrate Zhang Xinyan’s rescue. Little did we expect that, at the final step of implementing the international humanitarian rescue, Thai authorities suddenly reneged under pressure from the CCP and intercepted her,” she wrote on X, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
“She is deeply worried that she will be forcibly repatriated in the coming days,” Ms Sheng said. “Once repatriated, she will face extremely brutal persecution by the CCP regime.”
