They said in a statement that Dong Guangping is being held by Chinese authorities in the Zhengzhou No. 3 Detention Centre in Henan province, apparently without charge or pending trial.
The Toronto Association for Democracy in China and the Federation for a Democratic China are urging Chinese authorities to release Dong immediately and allow him to travel to Canada to be reunited with his family.
Until now, there had been no information about Dong’s fate since he was arrested last August by Vietnamese police.
Dong’s daughter Katherine, who lives in Toronto with her mother, said in November she feared her father had been handed over to Chinese authorities.
The Chinese Embassy had no immediate response Tuesday to questions about Dong.
Global Affairs Canada said in November that the federal government was deeply worried about Dong’s safety and well-being, and had been raising its concerns at the highest levels. It had no immediate comment on the latest development.
The association for democracy says Dong has been accepted for resettlement to Canada as a government-assisted refugee, but Ottawa was not able to persuade Vietnamese officials to allow him to travel to Canada.
He had been in hiding in Vietnam for 31 months while trying to make it to freedom.
Dong fled to Thailand in 2015 with his wife and daughter, who were resettled to Canada as refugees.
However, Thailand sent Dong back to China. After another stint in prison, he tried again to leave, finally making it to Vietnam in January 2020.