Chinese dissident found at sea detained in South Korea

What you need to know about the Chinese dissident detained in South Korea

• Dong Guangping, a former policeman who was imprisoned in China, has fled to South Korea in a small rubber boat
• South Korean authorities have detained him on suspicion of violating immigration laws
• Dong has previously tried to escape from China, only to be sent back multiple times
• It is unclear if South Korea will send him back to China

A Chinese dissident was detained by South Korean authorities this week after he was found drifting in a small rubber boat off the country's west coast, his lawyer said Wednesday.

South Korean authorities found Dong Guangping, a former policeman who was imprisoned in China for his activism, drifting in a small rubber boat off the coast of Taean County, in South Chungcheong Province, on Monday night, police said.

He has been detained and is being questioned for allegedly violating South Korean immigration laws, the Taean coast guard said in a statement.

Dong's lawyer, Kim Joo-kwang, confirmed his identity to the AFP news agency.

Kim didn't say from where Dong had launched his 3.3-meter-long (11 feet) boat, which was equipped with a 10-horsepower engine.

Who is the Chinese dissident who has fled to South Korea?

Dong is known for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and his political reform and human rights advocacy.

US-based group Human Rights in China says Dong was fired from his job as a policeman after he signed a petition a decade after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

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He was imprisoned for three years in around 2001 for "inciting subversion of state power" and was detained again in 2014 over activities related to the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

Dong has previously tried to escape from China. He fled to Thailand with his family, who were later resettled in Canada. Despite Dong being recognized by the UN as having refugee status, Thai authorities handed him over to Chinese police in 2015.

His attorney told AFP that Dong's current situation is "highly likely to be a political asylum case."

The New York Times, which first reported on Dong's detention on Tuesday, said the dissident had also previously escaped to Vietnam and Taiwan, only to be returned to China each time.

Chinese-Canadian activist Sheng Xue has previously shared news of Dong's attempted escapes on social media, including when he was arrested and deported in 2021 by Vietnamese authorities.

How have South Korean authorities reacted?

The right-wing opposition People Power Party has urged the government, led by the liberal Democratic Party, to offer Dong its "full protection."

"It should take swift humanitarian measures to ensure that he can safely travel to Canada, where his family is anxiously awaiting him," party spokesman Choo Hyun-chul said in a statement carried by AFP.

"This is a matter of a fundamental responsibility as a liberal democratic state," Choo added.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry has not commented on Dong's case.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and other left-wing administrations have preferred conciliatory foreign policy approaches towards China. It is unclear whether this approach will impact Dong's case.

South Korea, which began formally processing refugee applications in 1994, has only granted political asylum to a relatively small number of claimants. Despite receiving tens of thousands of asylum claims, its approval rate remains in the low single digits.

Another Chinese dissident, Kwon Pyong, fled China in 2023 on a jet ski to South Korea. He was convicted of illegal entry and handed a suspended prison sentence.

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Edited by: Zac Crellin