Coast Guard patrol vessels (Yonhap) A Chinese dissident detained after entering South Korean waters aboard a rubber boat has been identified as a veteran human rights activist, raising questions over whether Seoul will deport him or allow him to seek protection.A fishing vessel on Tuesday spotted a rubber boat carrying a Chinese national off the coast of Taean, South Chungcheong Province, and notified authorities, according to the Coast Guard. Patrol vessels were dispatched and the man was detained, with authorities investigating the circumstances of his arrival.A Coast Guard official told Yonhap News Agency that authorities had sought an arrest warrant for the man, but declined to confirm his identity. Separately, a Foreign Ministry official said the government was “checking the relevant details” and referred further inquiries to the Korea Immigration Service under the Justice Ministry.The New York Times reported that the man, identified as Dong Guangping, is a former police officer and human rights activist who has spent decades trying to flee China after repeatedly clashing with authorities over his political activism.The 68-year-old man was reportedly dismissed from the police force in 1999 after signing a letter linked to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Chinese authorities detained him again in 2014 after he took part in a memorial event commemorating the crackdown.After his release in 2015, Dong fled to Thailand with his family, where he reportedly received refugee status from the now-defunct UN Commission on Human Rights, which was later replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Thai authorities later charged him with illegal entry and forcibly repatriated him to China.After being released from prison in 2019 on charges of inciting subversion of state power, Dong reportedly attempted to swim to Taiwan to flee China.He later fled to Vietnam, where he spent more than two years in hiding before Vietnamese authorities arrested and deported him to China in August 2022.Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian writer and activist assisting Dong, told The New York Times that he had modeled his latest escape attempt on the case of fellow Chinese dissident Quan Ping.Quan drew attention in 2023 after attempting to reach Korea from China on a small personal watercraft. Korean authorities detained him on illegal entry charges, and he spent several months in custody before traveling to the United States in 2024 to apply for asylum.Sheng said Dong hopes to settle in Canada, where his daughter lives. Dong and his family had previously received refugee status from the Canadian government during an earlier stay in Thailand.