Dong Guangping, a courageous Chinese human rights defender who had been in hiding in Vietnam for the past 31 months while trying to reach freedom, disappeared without explanation on August 24.

   There are credible reports that Mr. Dong, who was desperately awaiting a chance to be reunited with his wife and daughter who reside in Toronto, was detained by Vietnamese officials. However, there has been no acknowledgement or confirmation of his arrest or whereabouts since his disappearance. Concerns are mounting that he has been subsequently unlawfully returned to China, despite the clear risk of human rights violations he faces there.

   Dong Guangping’s family are making an urgent plea to the Vietnamese and Chinese governments for information about his whereabouts and for him to be allowed to travel to Canada to be reunited with them.

   Mr. Dong is a high profile Chinese human rights defender who has been imprisoned in China on three occasions because of his advocacy in support of human rights and democracy. His case has been repeatedly documented and taken up in the past by international human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Frontline Defenders.

   His sudden disappearance came as a surprise as the Canadian government had been working hard advocating with the Vietnamese government for the past 2 1⁄2 years to allow him to leave the country and travel to Canada. His family and supporters had been cautiously optimistic that would prove successful.

   The Vietnamese government has not provided any information about Mr. Dong’s situation for four weeks, including to the Canadian government. His whereabouts remain unknown.

   Mr. Dong’s family, the Canadian government and human rights advocates who have been working to arrange his resettlement to Canada and reunion with his family had been very cautious in ensuring that nothing was done that would risk his safety while he was in Vietnam. There has always been a concern that Vietnamese officials might surrender him to Chinese authorities, a very real possibility given the considerable influence of the Chinese government with the Vietnamese government.

   As a result, the news of his disappearance on August 24 was not publicized initially, while the Canadian government pursued the matter with Vietnamese counterparts. His family now feels that the refusal of Vietnamese officials to provide any information about his fate gives rise to such serious concerns about his safety that the only choice open to them is to make this public plea.

   Seeking to reach safety, Mr. Dong illegally crossed the border into Vietnam in January 2020, and for the next 31 months lived in hiding in a variety of locations in Hanoi as the Canadian government sought permission from Vietnamese officials for him to leave the country so that he could join his family in Canada. Without a passport he had no other options for travel.

   At this point, human rights advocates working on behalf of Mr. Dong are concerned that Vietnam has turned him over to Chinese authorities and that he may have been returned to China. While it has not been possible to confirm that possibility it is consistent with what has happened previously to other Chinese dissidents summarily deported from Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia. If he was returned to China, he will likely face further extensive persecution, including arbitrary arrest, unjust imprisonment, an unfair trial, inhumane prison conditions, and torture and ill-treatment.

   The Canadian government had repeatedly confirmed that it would offer Mr. Dong a travel document, which would enable him to travel to Canada from Vietnam. That is standard practice in cases of refugee resettlement to Canada and is respected by countries around the world.

Background

   Dong Guangping was fired from his job as a police officer in China in 1999 because he signed a public letter related to the 10th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. He was imprisoned for three years between 2001-2004 on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.”

   He was detained and held incommunicado between July 2014 and February 2015 following his participation in an event commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

   Suffering intense state persecution in China, Mr. Dong and his wife, along with their daughter Dong Xuerui, escaped to Thailand in September 2015. After arriving there they were recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and accepted for resettlement to Canada as government-assisted refugees.

   On October 28, 2015, Thai immigration police working with Chinese state security officers detained Dong Guangping and fellow human rights defender Jiang Yefei in Bangkok. They were deported from Thailand back to China just over two weeks later, despite being recognized as refugees by the UNHCR.

   After being held in incommunicado detention, both men were tried and sentenced in secret. For the alleged crimes of "inciting subversion of state power" and "illegally crossing a national border,” the court sentenced Mr. Dong to three years and six months' imprisonment. His wife and daughter were resettled to Canada shortly after his forced return to China in 2015.

   Mr. Dong was released in August 2019. However, as he wanted to be with his wife and daughter, feared ongoing persecution by Chinese authorities, had no housing, job or financial resources, and was under constant police surveillance and harassment, he decided to again flee China.

   On December 8, 2019, Mr. Dong evaded local police who were monitoring him and traveled to the coastal city of Shishi, in Fujian Province, where he attempted to swim to Kinmen Island. However, he floundered at sea, and was forced to cling to a piece of styrofoam to stay afloat. He was shortly after saved by Chinese fishermen, who turned him over to a local police station in Xiamen, also in coastal Fujian province. Police escorted Mr. Dong back to his home in Henan Province. Undeterred, he fled China once again and crossed the border into Vietnam on January 5, 2020, where he remained in hiding in Hanoi until his disappearance on August 24, 2022.

For more information, please contact:

   Alex Neve, O.C. Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa: +1 613-852-3927, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

   Sheng Xue, writer, journalist and human rights activist. Vice President, Federation for a Democratic China: +1 416-568-0466, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

   Winnie Ng, PhD. Chair, Toronto Association for Democracy in China: +1 647-291-3511

SELECTED PAST MEDIA AND HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS:

   2015-12-09 Toronto Star - Canada’s rescue of two Chinese dissidents foiled by overnight deportation
   https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2015/12/09/canadas-rescue-of-two-chinese-dissidents-foiled-by-overnight-deportation.html

   2015-11-17 BBC - UN anger after Thailand deports 'Chinese dissidents'
   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34849363

   2015-11-18 RFA - Families of Deported Chinese Activists Leave Thailand For Canada
   https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-deported-11182015121215.html

   2018-04-11 Amnesty International – China: Free forcibly returned activist DONG Guangping
   https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/04/china-free-forcibly-returned-activist-dong-guangping

   2018-07-31 Amnesty International - 42 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR FORCIBLY RETURNED ACTIVIST
   https://www.amnesty.ca/sites/amnesty/files/259f%20China.pdf

   2019-05-16 Chinese Human Rights Defenders – Dong Guangping
   https://www.nchrd.org/2019/05/dong-guangping/

   Front Line Defenders - Case History: Dong Guangping
   https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-dong-guangping

   2022-11-11 Epoch Times - 大陆人权卫士董广平失踪 加国亲友呼紧急营救
   https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/11/11/n13863796.htm

   2022-11-12 Radio Taiwan International - 访盛雪女士，谈加拿大警惕中国对民主的威胁、董广平在越南失踪
   https://www.rti.org.tw/radio/programMessageView/programId/1646/id/137333

   2022-11-12 New Tang Dynasty TV - 【禁闻】人权捍卫者董广平失联 亲友吁关注
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IccfpQLr7qs