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Chinese Dissident Dong Guangping Arrives in Canada After Decade-Long Escape

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Chinese dissident Dong Guangping has arrived in Toronto, Canada, after a decade-long journey seeking asylum.
  • Dong previously attempted to flee China multiple times, including a failed swim to Kinmen and two deportations from Thailand and Vietnam.
  • He successfully reached South Korea in May via a 30-hour inflatable boat journey, before traveling to Canada to reunite with his family.

Chinese dissident Dong Guangping has successfully reached Toronto, Canada, marking the end of a more than ten-year arduous journey seeking freedom and family reunification. The 68-year-old former Chinese police officer, who became an activist after being dismissed in 1999 for signing a petition commemorating the Tiananmen Square incident, has faced numerous arrests, imprisonments, and deportations.

Dong's escape attempts have been fraught with peril. In 2015, he fled to Thailand with his wife and daughter but was recognized as a refugee by the UNHCR yet still deported back to China. A subsequent attempt to reach Vietnam in 2020 also resulted in his repatriation. More dramatically, in 2019, he reportedly attempted to swim to the island of Kinmen, which is close to the Chinese coast, but failed due to exhaustion and was rescued by Chinese fishermen before being sent back.

I need to take time to analyze everything that has happened in the six years with the Panama national team, and I have to talk to many people, especially my family.

— Thomas ChristiansenPanama's head coach reflects on his future after the team's World Cup elimination.

His most recent escape began in May of this year. Dong piloted a 3.3-meter inflatable boat with a small outboard motor from Shandong province, navigating over 300 kilometers for approximately 30 hours before reaching the waters off South Korea's Chungcheongnam-do province. Found near exhaustion by South Korean coast guards, he was detained for violating entry regulations.

During his time in South Korea, Dong expressed his desire to reunite with his wife and daughter, who had already settled in Canada. On June 27th, Canadian-Chinese writer and human rights activist Sheng Xue confirmed Dong's arrival in Toronto via social media, posting a photo of herself greeting him at the airport. Xue stated she had dedicated over a decade to assisting Dong's escape from China, finally fulfilling her mission. The Canadian government has not yet commented on Dong's case.

I am proud of the players' performance, we played well, we just didn't get points, we didn't score goals.

— Thomas ChristiansenPanama's head coach comments on his team's effort in their final group stage match against England.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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