Detained Again — The Case of Du Bin, China’s Veteran Photojournalist

December 04, 2025 – China – 

Veteran Chinese photojournalist and filmmaker Du Bin — long known for documenting human-rights abuses — was detained on October 15, 2025, marking his third arrest in 12 years. He remains held at the Shunyi Detention Center in Beijing, accused of the broadly defined crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

Du, 53, had planned to travel abroad when police reportedly came to his home a day before his flight. Since then, his family has not been given access to official detention papers, and authorities have refused to explain the basis for the charges — a pattern commonly used to silence dissent.

Before this most recent detention, Du had already been held twice: in 2013, after releasing a documentary on forced-labour camp abuses, and again in late 2020 — both times under the same vague charge and neither leading to a formal conviction.

Over a two-decade career, Du has worked for high-profile international media such as The New York Times and has authored investigative books and made documentaries on sensitive issues, including forced-labour camps, political repression, and historical events the government prefers to be overshadowed.

Press-freedom organisations have responded with alarm. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for his “immediate and unconditional” release, warning that the repeated arrests represent a deliberate campaign to intimidate one of China’s last independent photo-journalists. Likewise, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the detention — and lack of transparency around it — underscores the Chinese government’s readiness to criminalize basic reporting. RSF added that Du now risks up to five years behind bars if convicted under the commonly used “picking quarrels” charge.

Observers say Du’s case is emblematic of a growing crackdown on civil-society voices in China, where legal loopholes and sweeping national-security laws are routinely applied to silence dissent. As Du remains detained, the international spotlight is now on Beijing — and the safety of all journalists still working under severe restrictions.

Reference – 

https://rsf.org/en/china-rsf-calls-release-independent-photojournalist-du-bin

https://petapixel.com/2025/12/04/chinese-photographer-known-for-human-rights-reporting-faces-five-years-in-jail/

Chinese journalist Du Bin detained for third time, held since October