By Chen Meihua | 2025-09-04

Chinese censorship is reaching even artists in Thailand now.

The Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC) recently came under pressure from Beijing to censor an exhibition, removing and altering works by exiled artists. One of the curators has since fled to the United Kingdom.

"Constellation of Complicity: Visualizing the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity," which runs from July 24 to October 19, was intended to challenge authoritarianism. But after intervention from the Chinese embassy, workers removed or obscured artworks and references deemed "sensitive" by Beijing.

The gallery deleted references to Hong Kong, Tibet and the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in China, as well as artists' names, Reuters reported. Artists called the campaign the latest attempt by Beijing to suppress critics abroad.

Burmese artist, wife flee to UK

Three days after the July 24 opening, Chinese diplomats accompanied by Bangkok city authorities entered the exhibition and demanded its closure, Burmese artist and exhibit co-curator Sai said. The gallery allowed the show to continue only after removing the targeted works.

Soon afterward, Sai and his wife fled to the United Kingdom. The BBC reported that Thai police had inquired about their contact information, prompting them to leave within hours. Sai, who previously fled Burma after opposing the military regime, said he now hopes to seek asylum in Britain.

Lord Alton, chair of the UK parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights, said the case highlighted the global reach of China's transnational repression and pledged to support Sai's asylum request.

The Human Rights Foundation, based in New York, condemned the incident as part of a "coordinated effort to suppress artistic expression."

The exhibition featured works by artists in exile from Tibet, Hong Kong, Russia, Iran and Syria.

In a July 30 email seen by Reuters, the gallery cited a warning from the Chinese embassy, the Foreign Ministry and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The message stated that the show could spark "diplomatic tensions." There was "no choice but to make certain adjustments," such as blacking out the names of Hong Kong, Tibetan and Uyghur artists, the message added.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry said the exhibition "distorts China's policy" and "harms China's core interests and political dignity." The Chinese embassy accused the show of promoting Tibetan, Uyghur and Hong Kong independence.

Tibetan work censored

Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron saw much of his work removed or altered, including painting over of the words "Dalai Lama."

The censorship shows China's attempt to "cut Tibetans off from the rest of the world," he said, adding that it did not want its role in "other colonialisms and genocides to be recognized."

Museums should be "for the people, not dictators of any ideology," he said.

When the BBC visited in mid-August, it saw that the gallery had blacked out the names of several artists and references to Tibet, Hong Kong and China's Xinjiang region in artwork descriptions.

Other removed works included Tibetan and Uyghur flags, postcards featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping and one depicting ties between China and Israel, said Sai.