Chinese human rights defender Dong Guangping arrived at Toronto’s Pearson airport on Friday, concluding an arduous life journey to flee China. It took him 11 years.
中國人權捍衛者董廣平於週五抵達多倫多皮爾遜國際機場，結束了長達11年為逃離中國而經歷的艱辛人生旅程。
- Press Release
- 新聞發佈
Toronto – Saturday June 27, 2026
Human Rights Defender Dong Guangping resettled in Canada after an 11-year attempt to flee China
Chinese human rights defender Dong Guangping arrived at Toronto’s Pearson airport on Friday, concluding an arduous life journey to flee China. It took him 11 years.
Arriving directly from Seoul, South Korea, Dong was visibly in good spirit. He thanked the Canadian government for its humanitarian gesture by accepting him under the Refugee Resettlement Program. He was reunited with his family who had settled in Canada in 2015 under the same program.
In May this year, Dong fled China in a three-meter inflatable rubber boat on a 30-hour journey across the Yellow Sea to South Korea. Arriving in a state of extreme exhaustion and near coma, he was rescued by the South Korea Coast Guard and detained for “suspected immigration violations.”
A valiant effort by human rights lawyers and activists in South Korea and Canada, with support from governments in those two countries, secured his recent release.
“At a time when global respect for international law and human rights is in disarray, this is a powerful reminder that when states do live up to those fundamental obligations, as South Korea and Canada have in this instance, freedom prevails,” said Alex Neve, professor of international human rights, University of Ottawa.
Neve continued: “Even in the face of powerful geopolitical interests, such as the pressure generally exercised by China to punish dissent, when states do the right thing humanity triumphs.”
This was Dong’s fourth attempt to flee China. In 2015 he and his family fled China to Thailand and were granted UN refugee status. But Thailand authorities deported him back to China while his family re-settled in Canada.
His 2019 attempt to swim across the Taiwan Strait was aborted. Dong escaped to Vietnam in 2022 only to be deported after more than two years in hiding trying to secure safe passage to Canada.
A former police officer, Dong was dismissed and subsequently jailed multiple times for his open support for the victims of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
“I tried to dissuade him from fleeing to South Korea by sea, but he did it anyway,” said Sheng Xue, Toronto-based writer and China critic. “I have nothing but admiration for his courage and resiliency, and his fight for justice.”
Xue continued: “For the past 11 years as his contact person, I’ve held a deep conviction that we must successfully rescue him to Canada.”
“This has been an international effort to bring Dong to Canada,” said Winnie Ng, co-chair, Toronto Association for Democracy in China (TADC). “It is the true spirit of our collective humanitarian work. His arrival in Canada is a tremendous boost to our movement.”
2026年6月27曰多倫多
人權捍衛者董廣平扺達加拿大
11年艱辛逃離中國終獲庇護
中國人權捍衛者董廣平於週五抵達多倫多皮爾遜國際機場，結束了長達11年為逃離中國而經歷的艱辛人生旅程。
董廣平從南韓首爾乘直達航班抵達，精神狀態良好。加拿大政府以難民安置計畫接納他入境，他的家人已於2015年透過同一計畫在加拿大定居。最終能夠一家重聚，他對這項人道援助表示感激。
今年5月，董廣平乘坐一艘約三米長的充氣橡皮艇逃離中國，經歷30小時橫渡黃海前往南韓。抵達時他已極度虛脱、瀕臨昏迷，後被南韓海岸警衛隊救起，並以「涉嫌觸犯移民條例」拘留。
經過加拿大及南韓的國際人權律師及維權人士共同努力，加上兩國政府的協助，最終促成了他的獲釋。
渥太華大學國際人權教授Alex Neve表示：「國際法與人權的尊重正在全球陷入混亂之際，這是一個強而有力的訊號。當國家確實履行這些基本義務時，正如南韓和加拿大在此事中所展現的，自由終必勝出。」
Neve 續稱：「即使面對強大的地緣政治利益——例如中共因懲罰異議而施壓——當國家選擇正確的方向，人性便能戰勝一切。」
這是董廣平第四次試圖逃離中國。
2015年，他與家人逃往泰國並獲得聯合國難民身分，但泰國當局將他遣返中國，而其家人則成功前往加拿大定居。
他於2019年在試圖游泳横渡台灣海峽的途中取消計劃。
2022年，董廣平逃往越南躲藏兩年多，期間不斷尋求前往加拿大的安全途徑，最終遭遣返中國。
董廣平曾任警察，因公開支持1989年6月4日天安門事件受害人士而遭革除，並多次被監禁入獄。
多倫多作家及中國時事評論員盛雪表示：「我曾試圖勸阻他不要經由海路逃往南韓，但他還是堅持前往。我對他的勇氣與韌力，以及他為正義而奮鬥的精神，充滿由衷敬佩。」
盛雪續道：「在作為董廣平的聯絡人的過去11年裡，我一直堅信，我們必須成功將他營救到加拿大。」
多倫多支聯會（TADC）共同主席吳溫溫說：「透過國際努力合作把他帶到加拿大，充分顯現出人道工作的精神，亦為我們的行動帶來了極大鼓舞與肯定。」
