Rising Risk of Arbitrary Detention - China -
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“In China, you could be arrested simply for chatting with someone, copying a map, or unintentionally taking a photo of a sensitive location,” said Dinah Gardner

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"In China, you could be arrested simply for chatting with someone, copying a map, or unintentionally taking a photo of a sensitive location,” said Dinah Gardner, research director at the human rights organization Safeguard Defenders.

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Arbitrary Detention as a Political Tool

The report highlights that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government is increasingly employing ‘arbitrary detention’ as a diplomatic leverage, particularly targeting citizens from Western nations. In recent years, numerous similar cases have surfaced, including the ‘Two Michaels’ incident in Canada (Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor), the case of British citizen Han Feilong, and the case involving Australian writer Yang Hengjun.

Cheng Lei’s partner, Koyle, discovered in August 2020 that Cheng Lei had suddenly gone missing; her phone was unreachable, and her social media accounts showed no updates.

‘Honestly, I wasn’t sure at first. I was the first to notice she was missing, and I contacted the embassy to inform them of her disappearance. I quickly realized she had been detained because her computer was missing, along with other signs,’ Koyle told Voice of America.

After realizing that Cheng Lei might have been detained, Koyle’s initial response was to identify the agency responsible for her detention. He mentioned that if it were the CCP’s Public Security Bureau (PSB), there might still be some official avenues to pursue action. However, upon discovering it was the CCP’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), he understood that the situation had become much more complex.

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The report highlights that since Xi Jinping assumed power […] China has not only gradually closed its doors to foreigners but has also increasingly ‘brazenly detained foreigners for political reasons,’ ‘pressuring or punishing foreign governments.’ Such detentions have been integrated into the national security framework that China is increasingly emphasizing, particularly following the 2023 revision of the Anti-Espionage Law enacted in 2014, along with the revision of the National Secrets Law in May 2024, leading to a sharp rise in the number of foreigners detained on espionage charges in China.