——致敬董广平先生

作者：赵令军（Frank Zhao） 

2026年5月，中国黄海。

惊涛骇浪之间，一艘红色橡皮艇正在奋力前行。

艇上的老人已经六十八岁。

风暴在他身后翻滚，曙光在远方若隐若现。

如果不知道他的故事，人们或许会以为，这只是一场普通的海上冒险。

但事实上，这不是一次冒险，而是一场持续了二十七年的远航。

这位老人，是坚持追求自由，并持续揭露中共暴政的董广平先生。

没有鲜花，没有掌声，没有聚光灯。

陪伴他的，只有无边无际的大海。

他奋力驾驶着橡皮艇，在黑夜与海浪之间艰难前行。海风呼啸，巨浪翻滚，四周一片漆黑。

三十多个小时后，他终于抵达韩国。消息传来，无数人为之震动。

许多人惊叹于他的勇气。

而让我更加震撼的，却不仅仅是这三十多个小时。

而是此前整整二十七年的追求自由、抵抗暴政的岁月。

1999年，作为一名警察，董广平先生因参与有关“六·四”问题的公开联署而遭到打压。从那一天开始，他的人生被彻底改变。

警职被开除，自由被剥夺，牢狱之灾接踵而至。

2001年至2004年，他身陷囹圄。

2014年，他再次因纪念“六·四”活动而遭秘密关押。

然而，即使如此，他依然没有放弃对自由与良知的坚持。

2015年，董广平先生与家人逃离中国。在泰国，他获得联合国难民身份，并获得加拿大接收。

那一刻，自由似乎已经触手可及。

然而命运却再次露出了冰冷的一面。就在启程前夕，他被强行遣返回中国，自由之门，再次关闭。

对于许多人而言，这样的打击足以击碎所有希望。

然而董广平没有。

2019年，他试图游往台湾金门，失败。

2020年，他逃往越南，再次失败。

一次次希望燃起，一次次希望破灭。

一次次跌倒，一次次重新站起。

如果换作别人，也许早已选择沉默，但董广平先生却始终没有向命运低头。

二十七年来，他失去了自由，却没有失去信念；遭受了打压，却没有放弃良知；经历了失败，却始终没有停止前行。

我常常在想，一个人究竟需要多大的勇气，才能在一次次挫败之后，依然选择继续出发？

董广平先生用自己的人生给出了答案：

纵然道路漫长，纵然身处黑暗，也依然要向着自由的方向前进。

（董先生在登上飞往加拿大的航班，即将获得自由的瞬间）

2026年，当那艘橡皮艇驶入黄海的时候，它承载的，已经不仅仅是一个人的命运。

它承载着一个中国人对自由的渴望，承载着一个人在二十七年苦难中从未熄灭的希望，也承载着无数良知人士对于尊严与自由的追求。

与此同时，还有许多人始终没有忘记他。

从人权组织到海外民主人士，从长期关注案件的朋友到参与救援的人们，他们接力守望，持续发声。

其中，民主阵线主席盛雪女士长期奔走呼吁，与许多关心董先生命运的人一道，为他最终安全离开韩国、顺利抵达加拿大付出了大量努力。

正因为有人始终没有放弃，一场原本充满未知的逃亡，最终迎来了团聚的结局。

他们让人们看到，在漫长黑夜之中，总有人愿意为他人举起一盏灯。

（人权活动家盛雪女士在多伦多机场接到董先生的瞬间）

对于董广平先生而言，这不是一次简单的逃离，而是一场跨越二十七年的远航。

从1999年到2026年，从失去警职到重获自由；从监狱到大海，从黑暗到曙光。

这条路，他走了整整二十七年。

黄海上的三十多个小时，只是这场远航的最后一程。

如今，那艘曾经漂泊在黄海上的橡皮艇，终于驶向了自由；那位历经二十七年磨难的老人，也终于踏上了加拿大的土地，与分别多年的妻女团聚。

这一刻，人们看到的不只是一个人的团聚。

更是一段跨越二十七年的坚持，终于迎来了属于它的答案。

海浪终将平息，风暴终将过去。

但人们会记得，曾经有一位六十八岁的老人，驾驶着一艘橡皮艇，穿越黄海，驶向自由。

（历经生死、永不放弃、终获自由的董广平先生）

向董广平先生致敬！

也向所有曾经为他奔走呼吁、默默守望的人致敬！

因为自由从来不会从天而降，它属于那些在黑暗中依然守护良知的人，也属于那些在风暴里始终没有放弃希望的人。

历史终将记住：曾有一位六十八岁的老人，驾驶着一艘橡皮艇穿越黄海；也终将记住，在他驶向自由的路上，还有许多人默默举起火把，与他同行！

（争取自由的火光，永不会熄灭）

编辑：黄吉洲 校对：熊辩 翻译：周敏

Lone Boat in the Yellow Sea, Sailing Toward Freedom

— In Tribute to Mr. Dong Guangping

Author: Zhao Lingjun (Frank Zhao)

May 2026, the Yellow Sea, China.

Amidst the violent wind and towering waves, a red rubber dinghy is fighting its way forward.

The old man aboard the boat is already sixty-eight years old.

The storm rolls behind him, while the dawn glimmers faintly in the distance.

If one did not know his story, they might think this was merely an ordinary maritime adventure.

In reality, however, this was not an adventure, but a voyage that had lasted twenty-seven years.

This old man is Mr. Dong Guangping, who has steadfastly pursued freedom and continuously exposed the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party.

There were no flowers, no applause, no spotlights.

Accompanying him was only the boundless sea.

He exerted all his strength to pilot the rubber dinghy, struggling forward between the dark night and the ocean waves. The sea wind howled, huge waves tumbled, and all around was pitch black.

More than thirty hours later, he finally arrived in South Korea. When the news came out, countless people were deeply shaken.

Many marveled at his courage.

Yet what shook me even more was not merely those thirty-plus hours.

Rather, it was those twenty-seven whole years prior—spent in pursuit of freedom and resistance against tyranny.

In 1999, as a police officer, Mr. Dong Guangping was targeted and persecuted for participating in a public joint petition regarding the June Fourth issue. From that day on, his life was completely transformed.

He was dismissed from the police force, deprived of his freedom, and prison sentences followed one after another.

From 2001 to 2004, he was trapped behind bars.

In 2014, he was secretly detained again due to his participation in June Fourth commemoration activities.

Nevertheless, even so, he still never gave up his adherence to freedom and conscience.

In 2015, Mr. Dong Guangping and his family fled China. In Thailand, he obtained United Nations refugee status and was accepted for resettlement by Canada.

At that moment, freedom seemed within reach.

Yet fate showed its icy face once more. On the very eve of his departure, he was forcibly repatriated to China, and the door to freedom slammed shut again.

For many people, such a blow would be enough to shatter all hope.

Yet Dong Guangping did not break.

In 2019, he attempted to swim to Kinmen, Taiwan, but failed.

In 2020, he fled to Vietnam, and failed again.

Time and again hope flared up, and time and again hope was extinguished.

Time and again he fell, and time and again he stood back up.

If it had been anyone else, perhaps they would have long chosen silence; but Mr. Dong Guangping never bowed his head to fate.

For twenty-seven years, he lost his freedom, but he never lost his faith; he suffered persecution, but he never abandoned his conscience; he endured failures, but he never stopped moving forward.

I often wonder: how much courage does a person truly need to still choose to set off again after repeated setbacks?

Mr. Dong Guangping provided the answer with his own life:

Even if the road is long, and even if one is enveloped in darkness, one must still press forward toward freedom.

(The moment Mr. Dong boards the flight to Canada, about to attain freedom)

In 2026, when that rubber dinghy sailed into the Yellow Sea, what it carried was no longer just one person’s destiny.

It carried a Chinese person’s longing for freedom, the hope that had never been extinguished through twenty-seven years of suffering, and the pursuit of dignity and freedom shared by countless people of conscience.

At the same time, many people had never forgotten him.

From human rights organizations to overseas pro-democracy figures, from friends who had long paid attention to his case to those involved in the rescue efforts, they maintained a continuous vigil and kept speaking out.

Among them, Ms. Sheng Xue, President of the Federation for a Democratic China, engaged in long-term advocacy and tirelessly called for action. Together with many people who cared about Mr. Dong’s fate, she devoted enormous effort to ensuring he could safely leave South Korea and arrive smoothly in Canada.

Precisely because some never gave up, an escape that was originally filled with unknown perils ultimately reached a reunion.

They showed the world that during a long, dark night, there are always those willing to hold up a lamp for others.

(The moment human rights activist Ms. Sheng Xue meets Mr. Dong at the Toronto airport)

For Mr. Dong Guangping, this was not a simple escape, but a voyage spanning twenty-seven years.

From 1999 to 2026, from losing his police status to regaining freedom; from prison to the ocean, from darkness to the dawn.

He walked this road for twenty-seven whole years.

Those thirty-plus hours on the Yellow Sea were merely the final leg of this long voyage.

Now, that rubber dinghy that once drifted on the Yellow Sea has finally sailed into freedom; that sixty-eight-year-old man who endured twenty-seven years of hardship has also finally stepped onto Canadian soil, reuniting with his wife and daughter after many years of separation.

At this moment, what people witness is not merely the reunion of one person.

It is a twenty-seven-year story of perseverance that has finally found its answer.

The sea waves will eventually calm, and the storm will eventually pass.

But people will remember that there was once a sixty-eight-year-old man who piloted a rubber dinghy across the Yellow Sea, sailing toward freedom.

(Mr. Dong Guangping, who braved life and death, never gave up, and finally attained freedom)

Salute to Mr. Dong Guangping!

Salute also to all those who once advocated, called out, and silently kept watch for him!

Because freedom never falls from the sky; it belongs to those who still safeguard their conscience in the dark, and to those who never give up hope in the storm.

History will ultimately remember: there was once a sixty-eight-year-old man who piloted a rubber dinghy across the Yellow Sea; and it will also remember that on his journey toward freedom, there were many others who silently held up torches to walk alongside him!

(The spark of the fight for freedom will never be extinguished)

Editor: Huang Jizhou | Proofreader: Xiong Bian | Translator: Zhou Min