With a rare passport in hand, Dong Luobin had the opportunity to escape from the Chinese Consulate in Auckland. While hesitating, he suddenly heard a voice saying, “Go, go!” Following God’s guidance, Dong Luobin was finally free. The picture shows a Catholic church in Auckland, New Zealand. (John Selkirk-Pool/Getty Images)
[The Epoch Times, March 21, 2023](Interview and report by Epoch Times reporter Yi Fan) Dong Luobin, a former logistics employee of the CCP’s Chinese Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand, miraculously escaped two months following arriving in Auckland. How did he do it under the strict fortification of the Chinese Consulate?
In May 2018, Dong Luobin, who was 34 years old at the time, accepted an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times shortly following he fled. However, due to safety concerns, this thrilling, tortuous and little-known experience was not made public for the first time until recently. Following the Epoch Times report on March 17, “The mental journey of the escaped employee from the Chinese Consulate in New Zealand”, Dong Luobin further disclosed the details of his escape to the Epoch Times reporter.
When Dong Luobin was in China, he was suppressed for a long time because he believed in Catholicism, and he also held strong dissatisfaction with the CCP, so he had long wanted to leave overseas. After being sent to the Chinese Consulate in Auckland, the oppressive environment made his idea of fleeing even stronger.
The staff of the Chinese Consulate is being monitored in all directions
The Chinese Consulate has comprehensive control over its employees at every level from material to spiritual.
first of all there is no money. Dong Luobin said that their wages are kept in books and not paid to themselves. They will not be paid together until they return to China following the work period expires. The working period of an assignment is two years, but in fact many people serve as long as three or five years. The longer you work, the more money you get seized by the CCP.
“There are many people in the Chinese Consulate who are disgusted with the CCP. Why don’t they run away? This is an important reason.” He said.
Dong Luobin said that employees of the Chinese Consulate do not need to pay for their meals, accommodation and transportation overseas, so there are not many opportunities to spend money. If you need to buy some personal daily necessities, you can “borrow money” from the Chinese Consulate, and you can borrow up to 600 US dollars at a time. So once the employees run away, they will immediately face the problem of survival.
Dong Luobin believes that money is not the most important thing, but the lack of ID is the problem. His passport has been confiscated since he came out of Auckland Airport. “Without a passport, nothing can be done.”
As far as he knows, “There is a confidential room upstairs in the Chinese Consulate, where everyone’s passports are kept. In addition, there are various secrets in it. It is guarded 24 hours a day, and ordinary employees are not allowed to enter. .”
no personal freedom. The so-called “foreign affairs discipline” of the Chinese Consulate requires that all employees are not allowed to travel alone, at least three or more people can travel together, and mutual supervision is required when going out. Contact with outsiders is also not allowed, and violators may face deportation.
unable to understand the outside world. “The staff of the consulate work and live within the fence. They are neither allowed to read local newspapers nor to browse local websites. The mobile phone cards and Internet equipment used are all provided by the Chinese consulate. Xu Erwen (then in Auckland) Consul General of the Consulate) personally told us that all our activities here are transparent.”
Wanting to go to freedom, Dong Luobin said that the biggest obstacle is determination! Years of brainwashing and mental intimidation by the CCP made him feel that running away was “political defection” and that if he failed, he would die. Even if he ran out, he went outside the wall and didn’t know anyone. Who might help him? His English is not good, how to face this strange society? How to solve the problem of survival? What will his family in China face…? These obstacles weighed down on him like a mountain.
The infinite desire for freedom and the many obstacles in reality make Dong Luobin suffer from contradictions. “You clearly know that if you leave this door, you will be in a free world, but you just can’t get out,” he said.
There is always a way out
Dong Luobin quietly bought a local mobile phone card (SIM card) through an undisclosed relationship. This card, which is a little smaller than a fingernail, first opened the door to his spiritual home.
“At night, I use the data (Data) of this mobile phone card to browse overseas websites and news, without using their (Chinese Consulate) Wifi.”
“Voice of America, Voice of Asia, Deutsche Welle, The Epoch Times, BBC, Vatican Chinese Broadcasting… I just realized that there are so many voices of justice in this world, raising the flag for human rights and freedom of belief. It is the biggest encouragement I have received since arriving in New Zealand!”
Dong Luobin then discovered a regulatory loophole in the Chinese Consulate. The address of the Chinese Consulate in Auckland is No. 588 Great South Road (588 Great South Road). At that time, the Chinese Consulate just bought No. 590 next door. Dong Luobin noticed that the new property hadn’t had time to be renovated yet, and there was no gate. His dormitory building is located at No. 590. It is locked from the outside with a chain lock. If you push hard, you can push a crack in the door, and you can open the door lock from the inside by extending your hand.
Dong Luobin also learned through the convenience of work that the CCTV of the new property has not been connected to the Internet. Even more coincidentally, there is a Catholic church across the road not far behind the Chinese Consulate.
Dong Luobin decided to try to sneak out alone: ”I went out quietly at night and knocked on the priest’s window.” After a trial, he succeeded, and then he slipped back overnight, and no one found him. Taking advantage of these regulatory loopholes, Dong Luobin’s body was also briefly free. “
“The priest is of Indian origin and can only speak English. My English is not very good, so I can only use my mobile phone to translate. In fact, it is more regarding spiritual communication.”
Again and once more, Dong Luobin became more and more courageous. While he was still enjoying this short period of freedom, an accident happened.
Misfortunes and blessings
Dong Luobin said that that day was Sunday, May 6, 2018, and he went to church secretly once more. Since it was a day off, he went during the day. Since he had muted his cell phone, he came back and saw that there were seven missed calls, and the caller was his immediate superior Huang XX. Dong Luobin thought to himself: It’s broken!
Huang knew that Dong Luobin had gone out alone, but he didn’t know that he went to church, and Dong didn’t admit it. Although Huang Moumou’s face was very ugly, he didn’t say anything that day.
Early the next morning, several newcomers were asked to go to the New Zealand Automobile Association to replace their local driver’s licenses, and their passports were temporarily returned to them. After returning, Huang called Dong Luobin directly to the office and issued a “discipline violation notice”, which Dong Luobin signed without even looking at it.
Huang Moumou said to him angrily, “This is a moderate violation of discipline, not a serious violation. If it is a serious violation, you don’t need to sign, and you can go back to China directly.” After speaking, he criticized Dong Luobin once more.
Huang was criticizing, when suddenly someone came in and said that there was an overseas “high-level visiting group” and asked Huang to go to the airport to meet him immediately. High-level visiting groups are often important groups. Huang Moumou got up and left without saying anything, and forgot to take back Dong Luobin’s passport.
Dong Luobin, who was frozen in place, looked at the passport in his hand, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “The passport is in my hand. I thought regarding it, this opportunity is too rare! If I don’t have a passport, I can’t do anything. I decided decisively – let’s go!”
“It was daytime, or noon, and I was very nervous. Thinking regarding it now, I’m still a little nervous. I immediately went back and packed my things and clothes into my bag, zipped it up, and watched.”
“Because a colleague came back for a break at noon. I asked him where he was by WeChat? He said he was on his way to the airport. There was no one on the whole floor, and there was no surveillance. After packing up, it was 12:30 noon.”
“We ate at 11:30, and Xu Erwen ate at 12:30, and he must have finished eating at 12:30. The rest of the staff should rest at this time. There is no gate at No. 590, and the church is across the road. I have at least walked through this terrain. No less than ten times.”
“Looking down from upstairs, if you go to the right, you will be seen, but if you go to the left, keep walking along the road, and no one will see you. I have walked through it myself.”
When Dong Luobin was regarding to set off, he suddenly hesitated. “Just as I was hesitating, I suddenly heard a voice saying, ‘Go, go.’ I subconsciously turned around and found that there was no one there. I immediately understood—this must be God’s guidance! So I stopped hesitating. “
When Dong Luobin left the dormitory, he specially placed a pair of shoes outside the door.
“I was wearing a hat and pressed very low. I was carrying luggage. There were two suitcases, one big and one small. There were levers. I dragged them and ran quickly across the road. I held the big one in my right hand and the small one in my left hand. Many things belonged to me. I didn’t wear it, even threw away the work clothes, trying to reduce the weight as much as possible.”
“It takes three minutes to walk briskly from the consulate to the church. Usually at noon, many people would come down to smoke and chat in the business district (office building outside the consulate), but there was no one at noon that day. I can hear my own heartbeat.”
another accident
Dong Luobin went straight to the church. When he walked quickly to the church he had visited many times before, he found that the door was locked and the Indian priest was not there. He was dumbfounded at the time—it was out of plan once more! The Indian priest was the only person he knew outside the consulate.
Dong Luobin put his luggage at the door of the church, looked around, and found that there was a mission school next to the church, and a foreign female teacher was teaching children. He rushed over immediately and asked the teacher in not-so-fluent English if he might contact the priest for help, because he needed help.
“This is completely a headless chicken. I am like an arrow shot out, and there is no way out.”
With the help of a short exchange of translation software, the female teacher helped to find the priest, but she still mightn’t find him. Seeing that Dong Luobin looked very nervous, the female teacher asked him to sit down in the office and rest for a while.
Dong Luobin’s mobile phone might no longer be used due to arrears. The priest might not be reached once more. Time passed by second by second, and the longer the time dragged on, the greater the danger he faced. what to do? ! what to do? !
About three to five minutes later, Dong Luobin heard the sound of “didi”—the police car came. It turned out that without his knowledge, the female teacher called the police. Dong Luobin thought: It’s over now, I’m going to take him back!
Two policemen came in, holding the gun with their right hands, slightly bent their bodies and knees, and signaled him not to get up with their left hands, and said a lot of English to Dong Luobin that he might not understand at all.
Dong Luobin suddenly thought of the holy medal necklace hanging around his neck, and immediately hung it out for them to see. The female teacher seemed to understand suddenly, and immediately went forward and said something to the policeman, and the policeman’s attitude immediately became milder.
Dong Luobin had no choice but to admit to the police, “I escaped from the Chinese Consulate. If you send me back to the Chinese Consulate, I will definitely die. You can take me wherever you want.” , just don’t send me back (to the Chinese Consulate).”
The policeman said to him, “Don’t worry, we are here to protect you.”
Feel the miracle
Two policemen then took Dong Luobin back to the police station. But following arriving at the police station, Dong Luobin still didn’t know what to do. At this moment, he thought of an Australian pro-democracy activist whom he had contacted online but had never met.
Dong Luobin then tried to contact, but unexpectedly the other party responded immediately, and helped to contact a New Zealander he knew. The New Zealander immediately contacted the next person, and it went on and on, one following the other.
Dong Luobin learned followingwards that it was the sixth person who finally picked him up from the police station and sent him to the law firm. Here, Dong Luobin not only felt the power of justice, but also felt the miracle in it—such a tight chain, if one of the links is broken, it is impossible for him to escape so smoothly.
Recalling this sudden and unplanned escape, Dong Luobin said: “It was very hasty and decisive, or arbitrary. My main consideration is that the opportunity to get a passport is too rare. If I don’t get it this time, I’m afraid it will take another year or two. I can’t see my passport either.”
“If there is a plan, it must be running at night, maybe even in the middle of the night. This time it was completely out of the plan, and I mightn’t think of it myself. So I feel that it is completely impossible for me to do it alone. There is a god guiding me somewhere, Give me this power,” he said.
postscript
Dong Luobin was granted political asylum by the New Zealand government six months following he fled.
When he first escaped, he only had 600 US dollars “borrowed” from the Chinese consulate. However, he solved the problem of survival by working part-time, and returned the “arrears” a few years later.
Dong Luobin’s family members in China have been harassed by various levels of the CCP many times. After learning the news of his escape, his wife persisted and raised the child alone. After several years of hardships, the family was finally reunited.
Dong Luobin later learned from his former colleagues at the Chinese Consulate that the pair of shoes he placed at the door of the dormitory bought him 24 hours. A former colleague told him that everyone thought he was sulking in the room following being criticized, and it was not until noon the next day that he was missing.
A former colleague also told him that following the Chinese Consulate found out that he had escaped, it was closed for a whole month, and no one was allowed to enter or leave except the chef, and the atmosphere was extremely tense. The big leaders have always wanted to know, did Dong Luobin run away in a fit of anger, or did he plan for a long time?
Responsible editor: Lian Shuhua#
