The U.S. government has been urging the Chinese Communist Party to release American pastor David Lin and other U.S. citizens who have been wrongly detained for years. On Sunday, September 15th, the U.S. State Department announced that 68-year-old David Lin has finally been released and returned to the U.S. after 18 years of detention by the Chinese authorities.
On Monday, September 16th, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated in the daily press briefing that the government has been working for some time to secure David Lin’s release from China. Every time Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese officials, whether in China or the U.S., he raises the issue of releasing David Lin and other unlawfully detained American citizens.
Miller added, “We will continue to push for the release of other Americans.”
In response to questions from reporters, Miller said, “We welcome David Lin’s release from Chinese prison. He has returned to the U.S. and reunited with his family for the first time in nearly 20 years.”
Miller also mentioned two other American citizens detained by the Chinese authorities, Mark Swidan and Kai Li.
Swidan, a businessman from Texas, was convicted by a Chinese court on charges of manufacturing and trafficking drugs in 2019, although lacking evidence, and was sentenced to death, with the execution being temporarily suspended.
American citizen Kai Li, who is of Chinese descent, ran a company exporting Boeing aircraft parts to Asian countries including China. In 2016, he traveled to Shanghai to visit his mother’s grave but was arrested upon arrival. He was sentenced to ten years in prison by the Chinese authorities on charges of espionage, but Li has refused to confess.
When asked if David Lin’s release involved any form of exchange agreement, Miller refused to disclose, stating, “Apart from what I have already said, I will not provide further details on this process, except to say that we welcome David Lin’s release. Sometimes it is best to say less in diplomacy. That is the situation now.”
According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, David Lin was detained by the Chinese authorities in 2006 after entering China and was later charged with contract fraud, receiving a life sentence.
The U.S. government has stated that Swidan, Li, and David Lin were wrongly detained by the Chinese authorities. However, the Chinese Communist Party claims that such cases are handled “in accordance with the law.”
The U.S. Congressional Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing next Wednesday, September 25th, on the cases of American citizens imprisoned in China. The committee revealed that these detained American citizens are all facing health issues.