The United States State Department announced that China has released David Lin, a US pastor who had been imprisoned since 2006 on charges of contract fraud. Washington had been urging Beijing for years to free Lin, designating him as wrongfully detained. His release has raised hopes for two other US citizens, Kai Li and Mark Swidan, who are also considered to be wrongfully detained by the US government. Lin has returned to the United States and reunited with his family after nearly 20 years in jail.
Last November, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee called on President Joe Biden to raise the cases of Lin, Li, and Swidan during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China maintains that these cases are handled according to their laws, while Washington continues to pursue diplomatic efforts for their release.
Lin’s release follows a meeting between National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. A congressional commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on the imprisonment of US citizens in China this week. The hope is that Lin’s release will lead to further diplomatic efforts to secure the freedom of the remaining two detained Americans.
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