Dong, a police officer turned human rights activist, has been jailed in China several times for his activism.

In 1999, Dong was fired from the police after 13 years because he signed a petition to mark the 10th anniversary of the brutal Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Then, in 2001, he was jailed for three years for “inciting subversion of state power.” He was imprisoned again in 2014 for participating in another Tiananmen commemoration event, according to Amnesty International.

Dong had fled China four times previously, but was sent back each time. “But I have always held on to one conviction: I must go out into the free world,” he tells BBC China.

In September 2015, he traveled to Bangkok with his wife and daughter, where the United Nations granted them refugee status and approved their resettlement in Canada.

But days before his departure for Canada, Thai authorities deported Dong to China, where he was jailed for “inciting subversion” and “illegally crossing the national border.” He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

When he was released in 2019, he again tried to escape by swimming to Kinmen, a small Taiwanese island, but was detained by Chinese fishermen who handed him over to the police and prohibited him from leaving the country.

In 2020 he managed to flee China and entered Vietnam. He lived in hiding for two years in Hanoi, but was eventually deported to China, where he was sentenced to prison for almost a year.

In 2023, he was released from prison again.

These failed attempts only strengthened Dong’s resolve. He came up with a bolder, riskier plan: travel more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) across the Yellow Sea and then along the coast of South Korea to reach Japan.

“This is a very dangerous route, the risks are extremely high, I knew I would risk my life,” he said.

In May this year, with only a few hours of sailing practice, Dong started his journey in Weihai, Shandong, in a 3.3m-long rubber boat equipped with a motor.

Bad weather conditions at sea prompted him to divert and head towards South Korea, which is a closer destination.

The long hours at sea also left him dizzy and exhausted. He fell asleep at one point and woke up only to realize that his ship had just passed a large cargo ship.

“I would have crashed if I had stayed asleep for 20 more seconds,” he said.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. local time on May 25, he saw a fishing boat nearby and shouted at it: “Help me, help me! Call the police, call the police!” It was eventually washed ashore in South Korea’s Taean county.

Dong was sent to a refugee center in Incheon and later granted political asylum in Canada.

He is not the first Chinese dissident to flee across the sea to South Korea.

In 2023, another Chinese activist, Kwon Pyong, fled to South Korea on a jet ski. He was initially detained on immigration charges, but was later resettled in the United States.

Speaking about the moment he learned his flight to Toronto was confirmed, Dong said he was “overwhelmed with emotion as I held the plane ticket.”

Dong, who celebrated his mother’s 95th birthday just days before fleeing China, said he did not tell her about his plan to leave.

“Not being able to fulfill my filial duties towards my mother will continue to be my greatest regret,” he said.

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