Thai authorities detain Canada-bound Hong Kong activist

Zhang Xinyan among overseas-based democracy campaigners wanted on national security charges

Thai authorities have detained an activist wanted by Hong Kong authorities for national security violations just hours before she was to fly to Canada under a refugee resettlement agreement.

Zhang Xinyan, 55, is currently being held at the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre in Bangkok, according to Sunai Phasuk, senior adviser at Human Rights Watch Thailand.

Ms Zhang, a Chinese national, is one of several Hong Kong democracy campaigners living in exile abroad. She moved to Thailand in 2014 to escape persecution based on her participation in Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in China.

Her Chinese passport was previously confiscated and revoked by the Chinese Embassy in Thailand when she attempted to renew it, leaving her without travel documents. She obtained refugee status recognised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2016.

Ms Zhang is one of 19 activists based overseas who are named in arrest warrants issued by the Hong Kong police in July 2025 for subversion under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law. “Bounties” for their capture range from HK$200,000 to HK$1 million.

In May of this year, Thai immigration police arrested Ms Zhang on charges of overstaying her visa — it is not clear what kind of visa she held — and working without permission. She was placed in immigration detention while authorities prepared to initiate deportation procedures.

Mr Sunai warned at the time that any forced return to China could put her at serious risk and violate international law as well as Thailand’s law on the prevention of torture and enforced disappearance.

If sent back, Ms Zhang could become the first person charged under the Hong Kong national security law to be deported and imprisoned. (Story continues below)

Resettlement campaign

After she was detained on May 7, Ms Zhang contacted Sheng Xue, a Canada-based independent journalist, who helped set in motion efforts to resettle the activist. Yuan Gongyi, the founder of the Hong Kong exile parliament, arranged for a local human rights lawyer in Thailand to help.

The Canadian embassy in Thailand subsequently conducted an interview, medical examination and biometric data collection, and booked a flight for Ms Zhang from Bangkok to Vancouver on July 8, according to Ms Sheng.

“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.”