Li Xin (李新) formerly a website editor for a Chinese media group called Southern Metropolis Daily, is a pro-democracy campaigner and rights activist. Li disappeared on a train from Bangkok to the northeastern border town of Nong Khai in Thailand on 11 January 2016 after he leaked confidential documents detailing Communist Party propaganda efforts.[1] About a month later, He Fangmei, Li's wife, said she received a phone call from Li on 3 February, and was told that he had voluntarily come back to Mainland China to meet with investigators.[2]
Li Xin 李新 | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1979 (age 44–45) Xinxiang, Henan, China |
| Spouse | He Fangmei |
| Education | China University of Political Science and Law |
| Occupation | Editor, Democracy campaigner, Rights activist |
Background
editIn 2007, Li set up a website called Civil Society, which advocated for human rights in China.[3]
In 2008, Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese human rights activist and winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, and others co-authored a manifesto called Charter 08, calling for human rights, freedom of the press and democracy in China. Li was among the 6th group of people who signed the charter.
From 2010 to 2012, Li studied international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, during which time he was invited to write editorials on Chinese politics by the government of Taiwan.[3]
After returning to China, in June 2012 Li was detained and interrogated in a hotel for a week by Chinese state security police and was threatened with spying charges if he didn't agree to spy on other activists and dissidents. He was forced to agree to do it, but Li did not provide any essential information.[3]
In 2013, Li became a website editor for Southern Metropolis Daily in Guangdong province, where he knew many rights activists and public intellectuals.[3]
Disappearance in Thailand
editAfter being forced by China's state security police to spy on other activists, Li decided to flee to New Delhi, India in October 2015. Li's wife, He Fangmei told The Guardian "the [Chinese] authorities said they can arrest him at any time and charge him for endangering state security and for being a spy. He is scared. He couldn’t stay in China any more. He has been trying to get out from China."[4]
After arriving in India, Li made public several purported lists from government of sources and topics off limits to journalists in China, giving a glimpse at the operation of the regime's extensive propaganda machinery.[5]
Li tried unsuccessfully for several months to claim political asylum from the Indian government. However his applications were rejected, as India does not accept asylum applications from Chinese nationals. Li also applied for a visa to the United States, but was rejected by the U.S. embassy in New Delhi.[4]
In December 2015, Li's wife and infant son were sent back to their hometown in Henan province by authorities in Guangdong province after they were prevented from trying to leave the country via Hong Kong.[1]
On 1 January 2016 Li traveled to Thailand. On 9 January, another Chinese activist Yan Bojun, who fled to Thailand in 2015, reported having dinner with Li.[1]
On 10 January, he boarded an 8:36 p.m. train from Bangkok to the northeastern border town of Nong Khai, with the intention of trying to enter Laos to extend his Thai visa.[6]
The next day, around 7:40 am, his wife reported losing contact with him on the instant messaging app they used to communicate.[4]
Reappearance in China
editOn 2 February, Li's wife He Fangmei was summoned to a police station in Henan province. The next day, she was allowed to speak to her husband, who was apparently in a different location, over an internal police telephone system.[7]
Li told his wife that he came back to China to voluntarily help police with their investigations and that she should not talk to international media. Li refused to say where he was and asked his wife not to ask any questions. It is still unclear how Li returned to China, but his wife did not believe Li came back voluntarily.[8]
On 3 February, The New York Times reported on He Fangmei's conversation with Li in China. The article cited a spokesman for the Thai foreign ministry saying there was no "record as yet as to whether he has left the country," and that "there is no indication whatsoever that Mr. Li Xin was abducted from Thailand."[9]
Other Chinese Activists ‘Disappeared’ in Thailand
editLi's disappearance in Thailand is the fourth such instance of Chinese dissidents being captured in the country since October 2015.
On 28 October 2015, two Chinese human rights activists, Dong Guangping and Jiang Yefei were arrested in Bangkok and handed over to Chinese authorities, despite being recognized as refugees by the United Nations.[8]
On 17 October 2015, Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish publisher who wrote gossip books about Chinese political leaders, disappeared from his apartment in the resort city of Pattaya, Thailand. The incident is widely known as the Causeway Bay Books disappearance. Three months later, he appeared on state-run China Central Television, confessing to his involvement in a fatal car accident in Thailand.[10]
International response
editMajor news agencies, such as CNN, BBC, Time, The Guardian, and Radio Free Asia have covered the story of Li's disappearance and re-emergence in Thailand.
The European Union, United States and the United Kingdom have expressed their concerns about the disappearances of Li and other Chinese dissidents in China.[8]
In a statement, Human Rights Watch called the disappearance of Li and other Chinese dissidents from Thailand part of the Chinese government's "unprecedented new impulse" to snatch people outside its borders.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Chinese Rights Activist Disappears During Journey to Seek Political Asylum". Radio Free Asia. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ Bangkok, Tom Phillips Oliver Holmes in (3 February 2016). "Activist who vanished in Thailand is being held in China, says wife". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d 中文网, BBC. "李新：申請政治庇護是不想人格分裂下去". BBC 中文网. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ a b c Holmes, Oliver (22 January 2016). "Chinese rights campaigner disappears in Thailand". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ Staff, TIME. "Another Chinese Dissident Has Gone Missing in Thailand". Time. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ Levin, Ned (3 February 2016). "Journalist Who Went Missing in Thailand Re-Emerges in China". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ "Disappeared Chinese Journalist Back in China, 'Helping Police With Enquiries'". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ a b c Boykoff, Pamela; Kwon, Judy; Watson, Ivan (3 February 2016). "Chinese journalist Li Xin in government custody, wife says". CNN. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ Buckley, Chris (3 February 2016). "Journalist Who Sought Refuge in Thailand Is Said to Return to China". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ Keenan, John (1 September 2016). "Daughter of missing Hong Kong bookseller told not to travel to Asia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
- ^ "China/Hong Kong: Free 'Disappeared' Booksellers". 11 February 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
External links
edit- Human rights organization Amnesty International
- Human rights in China from Human Rights Watch