Woman convicted of salmon smuggling ‘seriously ill’ in Chinese jail

A woman who had business links with salmon producer SalMar is reported to be seriously ill with paralysis and other major problems in a Chinese jail, where she is serving a sentence for smuggling seafood.

Her family fear that she could die in prison unless she receives proper treatment.

In 2022 Yimin Dong, a former Chinese national who is now a Norwegian citizen, was sentenced to 14 years, later reduced to 13 years, after being convicted of smuggling salmon into China through Vietnam, at a time when China had barred fish imports from Norway.

SalMar has always insisted she was acting privately and was never directly employed by the company.

She had been a customer and also worked for other salmon companies, SalMar said, adding that it is doing all can to ensure she is treated humanely and receives the correct medical treatment.

Yimin Dong’s family have asked the Chinese authorities if she can complete her sentence in a Norwegian jail, but so far they have had no response.

Norway’s state broadcaster NRK, reported yesterday that Miss Dong’s health has considerably worsened.

She is said to have paralysis in both arms and legs, probably caused by cervical spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal in the neck. NRK says the most common symptoms are difficulty walking, along with paralysis and loss of feeling in the arms and legs.

A former exchange student, Dong came to Norway in the 1980s when she met and married Bjørn Wikne from the University of Bergen. She then became a Norwegian citizen and was involved in the salmon trade between Norway and China, which was growing.

However, political and trade relations between Norway and China soured after Oslo awarded a peace prize to Liu Xiaobo, the late Chinese dissident and Beijing government critic. It effectively led to a ban on Norwegian salmon into China which has since been lifted.

While in China, Dong was convicted with others of smuggling large quantities of Norwegian salmon into the country through various Vietnamese networks.

SalMar has always insisted that Dong was acting on her own and did not involve the company in any way, but it has kept a close watch on her welfare. They have also engaged the help of a senior diplomat to ensure she receives the right treatment.

But according to NRK, Dong has claimed the opposite in a letter to the broadcaster.

Quoting that letter, NRK says Yimin Dong wrote: “If SalMar claims that they did not know what happened and that it was just my operation without their consent, it is a pure lie .”

Her son Jorgen Wikne, who has visited her in jail, fears she may die in prison, describing conditions as “very demanding”.