Dong Guangping, a 68-year-old Chinese dissident, has been detained by South Korean authorities after attempting to flee China in a rubber boat. The former police officer turned government critic was rescued by the South Korean coastguard on Monday evening after a perilous 30-hour sea journey from China's eastern coast.
Multiple Escape Attempts
Dong has a history of attempting to leave China. In 2015, he fled with his wife and daughter to Thailand but was deported back to China despite being granted refugee status by the UN refugee agency. Upon his return, he was imprisoned for over three years for his activism.
After his release in 2019, he attempted to swim to Kinmen, a Taiwanese island just three miles off the Chinese coast, but was rescued by Chinese fishermen and returned. In 2020, he fled to Vietnam but was again arrested and sent back to China.
Details of the Latest Escape
According to Zang Xihong, a Chinese dissident in Canada who has been in contact with Dong, he departed from Weifang in Shandong province on a 3.3-metre boat equipped with a 10-horsepower motor. The coastguard spotted him about 38 nautical miles off the coast of Taean, a county in western South Korea.
Zang spoke to Dong by telephone on Tuesday morning while he was in custody. She reported that Dong was "almost unconscious" upon arrival. "I didn't know exactly when he was going to leave, but he had told me before that he would definitely find a way to get out. I knew he had that determination and that willpower," she said.
Background and Motivations
Dong was previously jailed between 2001 and 2004 for "inciting subversion of state power" and has frequently clashed with authorities over his activism related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Zhou Fengsuo, a former student leader from the 1989 protests, noted, "He sacrificed a lot for the legacy of Tiananmen."
Dong's journey bears resemblance to that of Kwon Pyong, an ethnic Korean Chinese national who fled to South Korea by jetski in 2023. Kwon was charged with illegal entry and spent nearly a year in South Korea before resettling in the United States.
Future Plans
Dong is believed to be seeking resettlement in Canada, where his family resides. The Canadian embassy in Seoul declined to comment, while the Chinese embassy in Seoul was approached for comment but did not respond. A spokesperson for South Korea's coastguard also declined to comment.
