Chinese dissident in Canada after years-long escape attempts

Hong Kong/New York (AP/dpa) - Chinese government critic Dong Guangping, who had fled to South Korea on a motorized rubber dinghy across the sea, has arrived in Canada after weeks of uncertainty, according to a post on X by Chinese-Canadian journalist and human rights activist Sheng Xue.

In her post on Saturday, she said that Dong landed in Toronto on Friday, bringing an end to his long-running effort to leave China.

At the end of May, Dong reached South Korea after a 30-hour journey in a motorized rubber dinghy. He later told the New York Times he believed he might die from exhaustion during the crossing, saying he had never previously steered such a boat and was "already in a terrible state."

His stay in South Korea had remained unclear. Although a district court rejected a request for pre-trial detention on illegal entry charges, Dong was reportedly taken to a refugee centre in Incheon near Seoul, according to the Yonhap news agency.

He had expressed a wish to seek asylum in Canada, where his wife and daughter live.

About a week later, Dong boarded a flight and he arrived in Toronto Friday. He was still unclear what legal procedures were involved in his move, but guessed it was based on cooperation between the South Korean and Canadian governments and the U.N. agency.

"Like living in a cage"

Dong formerly worked as a police officer in China until 1999, when he was dismissed after signing a public petition marking the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

In the years that followed, the authorities repeatedly arrested him because of his activism.

“It’s like living in a cage. Very suffocating,” he said in an online video interview with The Associated Press from Toronto, referring to the lack of freedom of expression in China.

After his release from prison, the 68-year-old dissident said he was unable to receive retirement benefits or renew his passport and was under constant police monitoring.

Since 2015, he had made several attempts to leave China but was repeatedly deported back to his home country - most recently from Vietnam in 2022.

Dong vows to press on with his activism

Dong said he feels at home after arriving in Toronto, saying he finally tasted freedom for the first time in over a decade.

"There’s not even a hint of fear,” he said. He hopes to make a living, possibly by being a truck driver or an Uber driver.

For Dong, the fight is far from over. He also plans to press on in his call for China's democratization. “My ultimate goal is for China to achieve constitutional democracy," he said.