This English version may have been machine-generated from the Chinese original and may not convey the original meaning accurately.
Where Is She on Her 37th Birthday?
——Dong Yaoqiong has been missing for more than five years, and no one still knows where she is
September 26, 2026, was Dong Yaoqiong’s 37th birthday.
But where is this 37-year-old woman?
There was no birthday cake, no blessings from family, no greetings from friends, and no birthday photo posted by her herself.
Because since February 2021, Dong Yaoqiong has lost contact with the outside world, and it has now been more than five years.
According to information released by a human rights organization in September 2026, Dong Yaoqiong has been in prolongedcommunicado, and to this day the outside world has been unable to independently confirm where she is. There has also been speculation about whether she was sent to a psychiatric hospital again, but the specific circumstances have not yet been independently verified.
More than five years have passed, yet no one has been able to confirm one person’s whereabouts.
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What exactly has she been through?
In July 2018, 28-year-old Dong Yaoqiong livestreamed from a street in Shanghai, publicly expressing her dissatisfaction with political reality and splashing ink on a portrait of Xi Jinping.
The incident subsequently attracted widespread attention.
Dong Yaoqiong was arrested as a result.
After that, her life underwent enormous changes.
She was sent to a psychiatric hospital and was later released; however, she subsequently lost contact with the outside world again.
From then on, less and less public information about her became available.
Her father, Dong Jianbiao, never gave up searching for his daughter.
What a father wants to know is, in fact, just one very simple question:
Where is my daughter?
This is a family’s most basic and urgent request.
Yet in the end, Dong Jianbiao himself lost his freedom while searching for his daughter.
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A daughter disappeared, and a father died in prison
On September 23, 2022, Dong Jianbiao died in prison.
The family later said that they saw injuries on Dong Jianbiao’s body in the morgue and that the authorities demanded that the body be cremated as soon as possible. Radio Free Asia also reported at the time on the family’s claims regarding the injuries and the rapid cremation.
A daughter disappeared.
A father died in prison.
And years later, the daughter still has not returned to her family.
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After more than five years, what exactly has one person been through?
We do not know.
Because to this day there is no credible public answer that can be independently verified.
Is she still alive?
Where is she?
What is her physical condition?
Can she still contact her family?
Does she know that people are still looking for her?
These questions remain unanswered.
And that is precisely what is most impossible to let go.
A person’s name can gradually disappear from news reports;
A person’s social media accounts can be shut down;
A person’s voice can disappear from public spaces.
But a real person cannot be treated as though she no longer exists simply because she can no longer make her voice heard in this world.
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She is not a number
Dong Yaoqiong is not a number in a file.
Nor is she merely a bed in a hospital.
Nor is she someone who can be hidden for a long time without having to explain her whereabouts to society.
She is a real person.
She has a father, a mother, and a family.
She has her own life, thoughts, dignity, and a life of her own.
Regardless of a person’s political views, and regardless of what she may have done, a person’s basic human dignity and her family’s desire to know her whereabouts should not be so easily ignored.
For Dong Yaoqiong’s family, what they are waiting for is not an abstract political answer.
They simply want to know:
Where is Dong Yaoqiong?
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Dong Yaoqiong, you are 37
On September 26, 2026, Dong Yaoqiong turned 37.
We do not know where you are now.
Nor do we know whether you can still hear the sounds from outside.
But today, there are still people who remember your name.
Dong Yaoqiong.
Someone is still asking:
Dong Yaoqiong, where are you?
More than five years of silence does not mean that this name has been forgotten.
Nor can the passage of time make a person’s disappearance seem normal.
If a person’s whereabouts remain unconfirmed for a long time, this question should not disappear simply because time has passed.
The truth still needs to be sought.
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Those who should not be forgotten
Dong Yaoqiong’s experience also forces us to consider a more fundamental question:
When a person suddenly loses contact with the outside world and her family is unable to confirm her whereabouts for a long time, should society continue asking questions?
The answer should not depend on that person’s political position.
Nor should it depend on whether she has received media attention.
Still less should the passage of too much time lead us to believe that the issue is no longer important.
Behind every missing person is a real life.
Behind every name that has remained silent for a long time may be a family that is waiting.
And a person’s dignity should not disappear simply because she has disappeared from public view.
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Five years later, we are still asking
More than five years have passed.
Where is Dong Yaoqiong?
To this day, no answer that can be independently verified has been provided.
Her father has died.
And her whereabouts remain a mystery.
In 2026, she turned 37.
For many people, this may be just an ordinary birthday.
But for Dong Yaoqiong’s family, and for those who still care about her fate, this day reminds us once again:
Some names should not be forgotten.
Some questions should not disappear because of silence.
Some truths require someone to keep asking about them.
Dong Yaoqiong, where are you?
We are still seeking answers.