A Taiwanese national was detained and interrogated for six hours at Shanghai's international airport after Chinese customs officers flagged his prior employment with Amnesty International, according to his parents, who disclosed the incident on social media.
Phone Records and Funding Sources Probed in Closed-Room Interrogation
Three plainclothes officers escorted the young man into a secured room at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, where they demanded he unlock his smartphone for a sweep of his photos, emails, and messaging apps including LINE and WhatsApp. Interrogators pressed him on his work at Amnesty International — asking whether he had contributed to human rights reports on China, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, or Tibet — and sought details about the organization's financial backers and any political figures or rights advocates he may have contacted in Taiwan or abroad.
The traveler explained that he had held only a junior, administrative role at the group, handling general clerical and office tasks, and had long since left the position. The trip, he said, was a purely commercial business visit. After declaring he wished to withdraw his entry application, he was permitted to board a flight back to Taiwan.
Amnesty International Taiwan Advises Against Travel to China and Hong Kong
Chiu I-ling, secretary general of Amnesty International Taiwan, said the organization was not aware of any previous cases involving current or former employees being subjected to similar treatment. She noted that Amnesty International is a global human rights body that monitors conditions in many countries, not one exclusively focused on China.
Chiu said the group's internal rules bar staff from flying on Chinese-flag carriers for official travel. More significantly, she said the organization routinely advises all job applicants — during the interview stage — not to travel to mainland China or Hong Kong for their own safety. Staff at the junior or intern level are not publicly listed, she added.
Even so, Chiu cautioned that since the 2017 detention of Taiwan rights activist Lee Ming-che, Taiwanese citizens with no connection to human rights work have continued to be arbitrarily arrested or have had their freedom restricted in China. Some have quietly turned to rights organizations for legal and humanitarian assistance.
Taiwan Government Reports 426 Detentions Across China and Hong Kong Since 2024
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) — the cabinet body overseeing cross-strait policy — reported that from January 1, 2024 through August 27, 2026, authorities had received 426 notifications involving Taiwanese nationals who went missing, were detained for questioning, or faced restrictions on their personal freedom while in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau.
Officials said the case count has continued to rise in recent months, with multiple incidents involving missing persons and individuals placed in custody. The government urged citizens to carefully assess risks before traveling to those destinations and to register their trips through official channels.
In Full
