Zhang Xinyan reaches Canada after Thai detention

Chinese activist Zhang Xinyan has arrived in Canada after months in a Bangkok immigration detention centre, where she feared deportation to Hong Kong or mainland China.

Zhang, 55, landed in Vancouver on August 3 after legal and diplomatic interventions. Thai authorities arrested her in May for overstaying her visa and placed her in immigration detention.

Zhang told AFP that while she was detained, her greatest fear each day was that she could be deported at any time. She said she had fled to Thailand in 2014 after a school principal in Shenzhen threatened to report her for promoting Falun Gong, a spiritual movement Beijing deems an illegal cult.

In exile, Zhang was granted UN refugee status and spoke about democracy in Hong Kong. Last year she was named to a shadow Hong Kong parliament in an unofficial online poll organised by a Canada-based activist group. Hong Kong police accused participants of subversion under the territory's national security law and offered a bounty on Zhang of more than $25,000.

China's foreign ministry said Zhang was suspected of involvement in a major case that harmed China's national interests. It urged Thailand to clarify the matter and called on relevant countries not to become a safe haven for criminals.

Thailand is not party to the UN Refugee Convention, but is bound by the legal principle of non-refoulement, which bars sending people back to places where their lives or freedom are in danger. Human Rights Watch's Sunai Phasuk accused Thailand of cooperating with China's transnational repression by tracking, arresting and returning people wanted by Beijing.

Supporters say other Chinese detainees remain at risk in Thailand. Human Rights Watch last month highlighted four Chinese detainees, including Zhang and investigative journalist Bai Zhaodong. Bai remains at the Bangkok detention centre where Zhang was held.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said last month that Bai was suspected of extortion and bribery and that an extradition request had been submitted. Reporters Without Borders said Bai's life would be at risk if he were deported to China. The group said a country had offered Bai asylum, but that Thai authorities had twice cancelled his flight and extended his detention.

Lawyer Nadthasiri Bergman, who represents Zhang and Bai, called on Thailand to let Bai leave the country. Canada's immigration and refugees department declined to comment on Zhang's case, citing safety and privacy concerns. Thailand's foreign ministry declined requests for comment.