Chinese dissident who fled by dinghy to South Korea arrives in Canada, his friend says

A Chinese dissident who fled by dinghy to South Korea has arrived in Canada, according to his friend’s post on social media. Dong Guangping reached Toronto after landing on an Air Canada flight on Friday, Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian activist, said on X on Saturday. Dong had been detained by South Korea’s coast guard in May for allegedly violating immigration law after traveling in a 3.3-meter (10.8-foot) inflatable boat near a western South Korean island. His detention followed what authorities described as his fourth known attempt to leave China. Dong told reporters at a court hearing in South Korea that he hopes to go to Canada to reunite with his wife and daughters, already resettled there, as reported by South Korean media. Previously, Amnesty International cited his imprisonment for “inciting subversion of state power” in 2001 and time in custody after a 2014 arrest tied to the 1989 Tiananmen Square memorial. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had not commented immediately.