Chinese dissident recounts daring escape to South Korea

Key Points:

• Chinese dissident Dong Guangping escaped China after a perilous 40-hour sea journey and detention in South Korea, ultimately arriving in Canada, a country he had sought refuge in for over a decade.
• Dong, who had been imprisoned multiple times for his pro-democracy activism and commemorations of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, faced constant police surveillance and was denied retirement benefits and passport renewal in China.
• After several failed escape attempts involving deportations from Thailand and Vietnam, Dong's latest journey involved a risky dinghy trip aimed initially at Japan, but he diverted to South Korea when his phone and power bank died.
• South Korean authorities detained Dong for immigration violations but did not formally arrest him; he was later transferred to a refugee center and then resettled in Canada through cooperation between South Korea, Canada, and the UN refugee agency.
• Now in Toronto, Dong feels a newfound freedom and plans to continue his activism for constitutional democracy in China, while also considering legal action against Thailand and Vietnam for his previous deportations.