Chinese Dissident’s Long-Term Planning for Jet Ski Escape

It has been revealed that the man who escaped from China to South Korea on a jet ski had been planning his getaway for years. According to a friend in the US who spoke to the New York Times, Kwon Pyong, a 35-year-old human rights activist and outspoken critic of Chinese President Xi Jinping, “felt depressed living in China due to the autocracy and lack of freedom of speech.” He had been plotting his escape even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Matt Ran, a Chinese-born engineer who met Kwon online, confirms that the details of Kwon’s incredible journey, which took him almost 200 miles across the ocean from China’s Shandong Peninsula to the South Korean port of Incheon on a jet ski towing barrels of fuel, match the plans Kwon shared with him before 2020.

According to Ran, Kwon, who graduated with an aerospace engineering degree from Iowa State University in 2014, was deeply concerned about China’s lack of democracy and aspired to become a successful entrepreneur. His bio on X (formerly Twitter) describes him as a committed advocate for democracy and a perpetual student dedicated to overturning communism, as reported by the New York Times. Kwon returned to China after completing his studies and participated in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests in 2014, as reported by the New York Post. Two years later, he angered China’s ruling Communist Party with a tweet featuring a photo of himself wearing a shirt that referred to Xi as “Xitler.” Kwon allegedly posted more than 70 anti-government images, videos, and comments, resulting in a charge of inciting subversion, according to the New York Times.

Kwon, who is of Korean descent and prefers to use his Korean name Quan Ping instead of his Chinese name, served 18 months in prison before being released in March 2018. However, he was not allowed to leave China as he remained under the watchful eye of the authorities, states human rights activist Lee Dae-seon. Lee reveals that Kwon first contacted him in 2019 to discuss seeking asylum in South Korea. After years of silence, Kwon reached out again this month, informing Lee of his imminent arrival in South Korea, as reported by the New York Times. “I didn’t know how he was going to come,” says Lee, as mentioned in CNN. Kwon, originally from the Chinese city of Yanbian, has now applied for asylum in South Korea. However, it is important to note that South Korea grants asylum to less than 200 out of over 10,000 requests received annually. (Read more China stories.)