Chinese Dissident Detained In South Korea After Sea Escape

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

BEIJING/SEOUL (Worthy News) – A Chinese dissident who fled his country in a rubber boat has been detained in South Korea after spending over a day at sea in what supporters described as his fourth attempt to reunite with his family.

Dong Guangping, a 68-year-old former police officer and human rights activist, was found Monday night near South Korea’s western coast after a journey of more than 30 hours across the Yellow Sea from China in a small inflatable boat, according to activists and South Korean authorities.

South Korea’s Coast Guard confirmed Dong is under investigation for alleged immigration violations and that his case will be referred to prosecutors.

Dong reportedly departed from Weifang in eastern China’s Shandong province in a small inflatable boat equipped with an engine.

Canada-based Chinese activist Sheng Xue said she spoke with Dong after he arrived in South Korea.

SEOUL UNDER PRESSURE OVER CASE

“When I spoke with him, he said, ‘I made it!’ He was quite proud,” she told broadcasters.

Sheng said Dong nearly collapsed from exhaustion after the engine of his boat failed as he approached Taean County on South Korea’s western coast.

South Korean authorities said Dong was rescued after a fishing vessel reported spotting him in Korean waters.

Sheng added that Dong had discussed his escape plans with her beforehand, though she warned him that the journey was too dangerous.

“He ended up really doing it,” she said. “Dong Guangping is too tenacious, too brave.”

RIGHTS GROUPS URGE ASYLUM

The New York-based rights group Human Rights in China urged South Korea not to deport Dong, warning he could face renewed persecution and torture.

The organization also called on Seoul to allow Dong to seek political asylum or help facilitate safe passage to Canada, where his wife and daughter currently live.

“That a man nearing seventy years old was driven to cross open seas in a small inflatable boat is itself a devastating indictment of China’s human rights situation,” the group said.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she was unaware of the case when questioned by reporters.

Dong previously worked as a police officer in Zhengzhou, the capital of central China’s Henan province.

TIANANMEN ACTIVISM LED TO PRISON

He was dismissed from the police force in 1999 after signing a petition commemorating the 10th anniversary of the deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

According to Amnesty International, Dong was imprisoned for three years beginning in 2001 on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.”

He was arrested again in 2014 after participating in another Tiananmen commemoration event.

In 2015, Dong fled with his wife and daughter to Thailand, where the family received refugee status through the United Nations and approval for resettlement in Canada.

However, Thai authorities deported Dong back to China days before the family was due to leave for Canada, sparking international criticism.

DISSIDENT MADE SEVERAL ATTEMPTS

Chinese authorities later sentenced him to prison on charges including “inciting subversion” and illegally crossing the national border.

Dong made another escape attempt in 2019 by trying to swim from China’s Fujian province to Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled island near the Chinese coast. Chinese fishermen intercepted him and handed him over to police.

In 2020, he managed to flee to Vietnam and reportedly lived in hiding in Hanoi for two years before Vietnamese authorities detained and deported him back to China.

He was sentenced to another 11 months in prison for illegally crossing national borders and was released in October 2023.

Until this week, his whereabouts had remained unclear.

Dong is not the first Chinese dissident to flee to South Korea by sea. In 2023, Chinese activist Kwon Pyong escaped to South Korea on a jet ski before eventually resettling in the United States.

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